The Samsung Galaxy S23 leaks and rumors continue to come in at a rapid pace, and the latest chatter that we’re hearing is that the flagship phone series is going to go all-in with Snapdragon chipsets in all (or at least most) of the markets that it will be sold in.
This comes courtesy of an earnings call from Snapdragon manufacturer Qualcomm (via GSMArena (opens in new tab)), in which Qualcomm chief financial officer Akash Palkhiwala said that Snapdragon chips would get a “global share” of the Galaxy S23 market – up from a 75% share with the Galaxy S22.
Traditionally, Samsung fits its Galaxy S series phones with either Qualcomm Snapdragon silicon or its own Exynos chipsets, depending on region – Europe usually gets Exynos, while the US usually gets Snapdragon, for example. Now, that might be changing.
Still to come
The particular chip in question would of course be the as-yet-unannounced Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, following on from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 that has been powering a lot of the high-end Android phones to appear on the market this year.
According to the rumors that have been swirling around, the Gen 2 version of the chipset could make an appearance in December 2022. The Galaxy S23 would then follow on shortly afterwards, probably in February.
It’s worth bearing in mind that some sources are saying (opens in new tab) that Samsung does still want to use an Exynos processor in some Galaxy S23 models, so it may be that the “global share” for Qualcomm isn’t a completely 100% deal.
Analysis: a returning rumor
The news that the Galaxy S23 phones might use a Snapdragon chipset in every region isn’t particularly surprising: if you’ve got a long memory you might remember a similar rumor appearing around the Galaxy S22 handsets before they launched.
Back in July 2022, one of the most notable industry analysts in the business predicted that the Galaxy S23 series would be using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset in every region that it was sold in, so this is a rumor that has a strong track record.
Not long after that, Qualcomm dropped a hint that it might be getting its chipsets into more Galaxy phones next year – which of course Qualcomm would be happy to see. It would also make life simpler for consumers too.
However, Exynos chipsets might not be off the table completely. Earlier this year we heard reports that Samsung was building a brand new and improved processor to be launched in a few years, with Qualcomm Snapdragon CPUs filling the gap in the meantime.
