Samsung's reliance on Qualcomm for high-end chipsets has grown significantly over the past few years. The foldable phones have remained Snapdragon-only while the Galaxy S23 series also exclusively used the Qualcomm chipset. Samsung only brought back the Exynos with this year's Galaxy S24 lineup, even as Snapdragon variants exist in certain markets.
Chipsets are one of the biggest input costs for Samsung's mobile division. If Qualcomm raises prices, Samsung has little choice but to pay what it demands. With prices believed to be considerably high, it seems Samsung wants to put the Exynos chipsets in a lot more Galaxy devices from this year to save money.
Samsung spent nearly $9 billion on mobile chipsets last year
A recent report showed that Samsung has lowered the use of Exynos chips in Galaxy devices. The Exynos-powered devices shipped in Q4 2023 numbered just 13 million, 48% less than Q4 2022. Samsung's revenue from smartphone chipsets was also 44% less during the same period. As Exynos chipsets are primarily used in Galaxy devices, it goes to show that this decline was largely due to Samsung buying more chipsets from Qualcomm for high-end devices, and also from the likes of MediaTek for some low-end phones.
According to the numbers in Samsung Electronics' 2023 business report, the company's mobile division spent $8.87 billion on mobile chipsets in 2023. The division spent 3.1% more on these components last year compared to 2022. The company mentioned in the report that the price of mobile chipsets has “increased by about 30 percent compared to the previous year.”
Samsung is now reportedly planning to increase the use of Exynos chipsets in Galaxy devices from 2024 onwards. This will help bring procurement costs down. Samsung will also invest in improving the competitiveness of its Exynos chipsets to address users' concerns about performance and power efficiency.
We've already started seeing signs of this shift with the Exynos 2400's inclusion in the galaxy S24 lineup. Rumor has it that Samsung may go Exynos-only for the Galaxy S25 series. The new Galaxy A35 and Galaxy A55 feature Exynos chipsets as well, and the company is also looking to replace MediaTek chipsets in its low-range lineup with its own chipset.
