Flagship Expansion: MediaTek and Qualcomm Holding Galaxy S23... What Is Samsung's Next Move?

MediaTek, Leader in Mid-Range APs, Unveils Flagship Product
Qualcomm Increases Snapdragon Adoption Rate in Galaxy S23
Samsung Faces Challenge of Business Restructuring
Expanding Mobile CIS Alongside Mid-Range AP Growth Strategy

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Pyeonghwa] As the leading players in the mobile application processor (AP) market actively advance, Samsung Electronics faces growing challenges in its system (non-memory) semiconductor business. Taiwan's MediaTek has introduced a high-end flagship AP, moving away from its mainstay mid-to-low-end products, while US-based Qualcomm is increasing its AP supply for Samsung Electronics' next flagship model, the Galaxy S23 series, showing confidence. Samsung Electronics is aiming to reorganize its business by expanding mid-to-low-end products and seeking additional growth engines such as mobile image sensors (CIS).

According to the semiconductor industry on the 14th, MediaTek unveiled the Dimensity 9200 last week, a mobile AP supporting 5th generation mobile communication (5G) flagship smartphones. An AP is a core chipset that acts as the brain of a smartphone, integrating the central processing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit (GPU), DRAM, modem, and image signal processor (ISP) into a system-on-chip (SoC). The Dimensity 9200, like Qualcomm's flagship mobile AP Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, was manufactured using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC) 4-nanometer (nm; 1 nm = one billionth of a meter) process.

MediaTek emphasized that the product achieves higher performance than previous APs while reducing power consumption. In fact, the Arm Immortalis-G715 GPU installed in the Dimensity 9200 is evaluated to have performance comparable to the A16 Bionic GPU used in the latest iPhone series. It is also the first AP to integrate the Arm Cortex X3 operating at 3 gigahertz (GHz). MediaTek, which had been expanding its market presence mainly with mid-to-low-end APs, is now demonstrating its intention to expand its business by launching flagship products as well.

Qualcomm, a leader in flagship mobile APs, announced during its fiscal year 2022 fourth-quarter (July to September 2022) earnings release that the majority of Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S23 series, a flagship smartphone launching early next year, will be equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Samsung Electronics had previously divided the Galaxy S series between its own Exynos series mobile APs from the System LSI division and Qualcomm's Snapdragon series by region, but the proportion of Snapdragon has gradually increased, now accounting for a larger share than the previous generation (75%).

From the perspective of Samsung Electronics' System LSI division, it is a painful point that its AP was not chosen even for its own flagship smartphones. Concerns over performance issues persist, prompting industry calls to reconsider business direction. Samsung Electronics also stated in its recent third-quarter earnings announcement that it will "restore competitiveness through SoC business reorganization and solidify the status of flagship products."

Samsung Electronics' recent strategy to expand mid-to-low-end mobile APs and the resulting increase in market share are positive factors. According to market research firm Omdia, Samsung Electronics ranked 4th in the mid-to-low-end mobile AP market in the second quarter of this year, recording a 3.0% increase in market share compared to the previous quarter. While the top three players all saw declines, Samsung's share increased. The expansion of the mobile image sensor (CIS) business, emerging as a new growth engine, also draws attention. Samsung Electronics, the second-largest player in the mobile CIS market, is actively narrowing the gap with the market leader Sony. It is expected to supply the 200-megapixel CIS, tentatively named ISOCELL HP2, to the Galaxy S23 series next year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.