Samsung's dependence on Qualcomm's high-end processors has increased significantly over the past few years. Folding screen phones still only use Snapdragon, as does the Galaxy S23 series. Samsung went back to Exynos with the Galaxy S24 series this year. However, Galaxy S24 Ultra - the most advanced product in the line - still exclusively uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform for Galaxy.

Samsung has to spend a lot of money to buy Qualcomm processors. If Qualcomm increases the prices of its products, Samsung will have no choice but to meet their demands. Therefore, it seems that the company wants to use Exynos more for Galaxy models to save money.

Samsung has spent nearly nine billion dollars on mobile processors

A recent report shows that Samsung has reduced the use of Exynos processors in Galaxy devices. The number of Exynos-equipped units shipped in the fourth quarter of 2023 was only 13 million, 48% less than the same period last year. Samsung's revenue from phone processors also decreased by 44% in the same period. Since Exynos processors are mainly used for Galaxy devices, this decline is largely due to Samsung buying more processors from Qualcomm for high-end devices and from MediaTek for low-end devices.

According to Samsung Electronics' 2023 business report, the company's mobile division spent $8.87 billion on mobile processors in 2023, 3.1% more than in 2022. The company mentioned in reports that the price of mobile processors has โ€œincreased about 30 percent over the previous year.โ€

Samsung is currently planning to increase the use of Exynos processors for Galaxy devices from 2024 onwards to reduce costs. Samsung will also look to improve Exynos' competitiveness to address user concerns about performance and power savings.

We're already starting to see this plan implemented with the Exyno 2400 inside the Galaxy S24 series. There are rumors that Samsung will only use Exynos for the Galaxy S25 series. Galaxy A35 and Galaxy A55 are also equipped with Exynos processor. Finally, the company is also looking to replace MediaTek processors in low-end products with Exynos.