Samsung is reportedly developing its own processor cores. Yes, so far we know that the SoC products available in the market, including Samsung’s Exynos SoC, use CPU core designs from ARM.
Apparently, Samsung’s own processor cores will begin large-scale production in 2025. These processor cores will be used in Samsung’s high-end smartphones in 2027. However, Samsung has not mentioned whether the processor core design will only be used in Samsung devices or whether it will also be open to products from other brands.
Samsung does have a strategy to control as many of its products as possible through “Vertical Integration,” so as many components as possible are made by Samsung. Currently, almost all components in Samsung smartphones are made by the company, from screens, memory, batteries, cameras, and more. However, for SoCs, Samsung still relies on products from other semiconductor companies such as Qualcomm.
Samsung has actually tried to produce its own processor cores called Project Mongoose by creating a special team in Austin, Texas. Unfortunately, the project was discontinued in 2019 due to issues related to power efficiency and excessive heat production, although its performance was good.
Are You Sure You Want to Leave ARM Core CPU?
Samsung’s strategy to develop their own Core processor/CPU is certainly not a simple matter, considering that ARM has become a “strong” architecture with a complex ecosystem. Even Apple has switched from X86-based processors to ARM-based processors for their PC products.
So, to develop their own Core CPU with their own design, Samsung certainly needs courage and must be really mature in its development. Moreover, this is related to hardware, and the “brain” part of the device they will create, which will greatly affect the performance and compatibility of all device ecosystems.
In the past, Samsung developed their own OS called TizenOS, which was expected to replace Android OS. However, the results were that the OS is now only used on some of their home electronic devices. That was just software.
Therefore, it is likely that the new Core processor design by Samsung will go through a long trial and error stage after it is released. Samsung is also unlikely to immediately abandon ARM’s old CPU design for their products in the near future.
