Samsung may use Qualcomm’s new AP for next Galaxy top model

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s top smartphone maker, may use Qualcomm Inc.’s new application processor (AP) for the top-end model of its next Galaxy series while installing its own mobile chips on less expensive versions to differentiate premium products with better performance.

Samsung is considering mounting the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, Qualcomm’s state-of-the-art mobile AP to be mass-produced using a 4-nanometer process, on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, the most expensive model of the South Korean company’s flagship smartphone to be unveiled next year, industry sources in Seoul said on Friday.

The tech giant is mulling installing its own mobile APs on other models of the Galaxy S24, the sources said.

Samsung used Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 AP for all of its flagship Galaxy S23 models.

A mobile AP is a system on a chip designed to support applications running in a mobile operating system environment.

Users are increasingly interested in the component’s performances as a smartphone has become a handheld computer from which to play games of large file sizes and shoot videos. The chip is expected to grow more important as various artificial intelligence functions have recently been applied to smartphones.

A17 PRO VS A16 BIONIC

Apple Inc., which has been leading the smartphone’s innovation through software upgrades, is focused more on APs' performances.

The US Big Tech company used different APs on its latest iPhone 15 series unveiled on Sept 12.

It installed the A17 Pro chipset, developed by Apple and built on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s (TSMC) latest 3 nm fabrication process, on higher-end models – the iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

The A17 Pro’s central processing unit (CPU) was reportedly about 10% faster than its predecessor through enhanced designs, while its graphics processing unit (GPU) was known to have 20% improved performances for smoother graphics.

Apple, however, used the A16 Bionic developed in 2022 for the iPhone 15 and the iPhone 15 Plus.

Such a move came as global smartphone makers are trying to make profits amid surging costs for AP development and production by using the newest chips only for premium models but old parts for lower-end versions.

Write to Jeong-Soo Hwang at hjs@hankyung.com
 

Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.