(Photo=Samsung) 

 

It was found that Samsung Electronics paid more than 8 trillion won to external chip manufacturers such as Qualcomm and MediaTech to purchase application processors (AP). As Exynos, its own chip, has not been adopted for Samsung Electronics' flagship smartphones, the cost of paying external chip makers has increased significantly.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 15th, Samsung Electronics paid 8.1423 trillion won in AP purchases to chip makers such as Qualcomm and Mediatech in the third quarter of last year, up 98.4% from the same period last year (4.1032 trillion won). Analysts say that the cost paid to chip manufacturers has increased significantly due to strong sales of foldable smartphones such as Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Flip 4 and rising exchange rates.

The industry believes that the absence of its own AP Exynos is adding to the burden on Samsung Electronics' smartphone business.

The Galaxy S23 (tentative name), which is scheduled to be released in February this year, is also likely to adopt all of Qualcomm's new APs, Snapdragon 8's second-generation models.

The biggest problem is that the outlook for Exynos in the flagship smartphone market is uncertain. Although it has been partially adopted for low-end smartphones, it has completely lost its competitiveness in the flagship market as it falls behind Qualcomm's Snapdragon in terms of absolute performance.

[ⓒ AlphaBIZ. 무단전재-재배포 금지]