Hello, we’re discussing Samsung tonight and there’s quite a lot here to unpack. I’ll do my best to avoid waffling and stay on topic so that I pass the gist quickly. Let’s do the Samsung Exynos 2500 update.
As we ought to know by now, Samsung Exynos is the brand name of a line of entry level to high end processors that are exclusively made for Samsung’s devices.
The Background
Samsung were the only Android OEM prior to Google that had the ability to go band for band with Apple. This is because they were the very first Android OEM to have, not just their own SoC but their own fabrication plant. I mean whilst Apple, Qualcomm, Huawei, MediaTek and Unisoc had to rely on TSMC, SMIC and co. Samsung basically manufactured their own SoCs.
To this effect, I feel like Samsung has never really hit the heights that they were supposed to hit, both as an SoC manufacturer competing with Apple and Qualcomm to a Fab plant competing with TSMC and SMIC. I mean once upon a time, Apple had to go cap in hand to ask Samsung for SoCs to power the original iPhone. Samsung’s Exynos were once considered the best in the Android space.
I remember those bitter arguments from 2018 where we used to argue which company had the best processor and Exynos would always come up.
Samsung’s Failings
Over time however, something started to go wrong. Year on year, users began to complain bitterly about overheating and underperforming Exynos chips. When nothing was done to improve the situation, they began to avoid it.
From the top 3 in SoC performance to nowhere near the top 10, Samsung’s fall from grace has been louder than that of Huawei. That’s saying something, especially when you consider the fact that Huawei had to deal with US sanctions and Samsung didn’t.
Let’s go on to talk about the fab aspect, where Samsung has been underperforming in the last 4 years. After the Snapdragon 888 and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, Qualcomm quickly bailed and went to TSMC.
With Samsung struggling in both the fab and SoC business, they decided to make a few changes:
- They closed down the Exynos custom core division and reverted to ARM Cortex CPUs.
- They dumped Mali GPUs for AMD GPUs.
- They pushed for a switch to GAA chip manufacturing.
Initially, I thought that these moves would yield fruit. When the Exynos 2200 came out, I was eagerly expecting great things from Samsung. That turned out well. Exynos 2300 never saw the light of day and Exynos 2400 was underwhelming.
I mean even the Google Tensors made by Samsung were underwhelming but the excuse was that Google wanted a AI centric chip.
Samsung Exynos 2500 Update
Now here we are at the dawn of the Exynos 2500 and the news that has been leaking out of Samsung’s camp is actually worse than ever. The whole Samsung Exynos 2500 set may go the way of the Dodo bird.
Why? Well the yields from their all new 3nm GAA process has been poor. A lot of the chips are either damaged or underperforming.
So lemme explain:
When chips are to be made, they’re designed on paper (a computer screen) and mapped onto wafers. The design of the chip is printed by one of the most sophisticated machines ever made by man into the wafers. Each rectangular block on the wafer gets designed by this machine.
When this process is done and the wafer cools, it is cut up into the individual chips (yield). These chips are then tested to see if they’re any good.
This is where the Samsung Exynos 2500 update has hit a roadblock. It has gotten so bad that the entire upcoming Samsung Galaxy S series phones will be Snapdragon only. To add to this, there are already rumors of Samsung negotiating with MediaTek for the Dimensity 9400 for the FE edition.
As someone who remembers how Samsung fans used to insult MediaTek chips back then, this must be a very bitter pill to swallow. However, it turns out that the opposite has been the case.
The Public Reception
Overall, the news I’m getting from the community has been overwhelmingly positive, from Facebook to Reddit. People are genuinely happy that they won’t have to deal with Exynos. The happiest ones are those from the designated Exynos regions. I have never seen where fans of a company rejoice openly at the downfall of one of the company’s division.
It appears that Samsung needs to find their own “Nuvia” to fix not just their chip manufacturing but the SoCs themselves. Otherwise they’ll remain a laughingstock of the industry.
In football, if a team underperforms, it is going to get relegated. Samsung should drop down and stick with their upper Midrange SoCs for the time being. At least till they can figure out how to perfect their GAA process.
I mean the yield of the 3nm is poor and they’re already talking about 2nm. WTF man.
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