Smartphones powered by Qualcomm and Samsung Electronics’ 5nm application processors are expected to launch in January 2021.
The companies have unveiled their new APs starting in November.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 for flagship smartphones was made with the 5nm process. Snapdragon 678 for mid-tier phones is made with 11nm.
Samsung is applying 5nm for both its mid-tier AP Exynos 1080 and flagship AP Exynos 2100.
The South Korean tech giant is likely aiming to capitalize on Huawei’s absence in the smartphone market from US sanctions.
Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo are looking to take market share held by Huawei. These Chinese companies have been using AP from Qualcomm and MediaTek so far. But if they expand their shipment, they may procure additional AP from Samsung.
Exynos 1080 powers Vivo’s X60 series that launched this week. X60 will begin sales in China on November 8. Exynos 1080 will power new phones launched by Xiaomi and Oppo. Samsung’s chip is 25% smaller than its 7nm predecessor and has 10% increased performance.
Snapdragon 888 was unveiled earlier this month. It has 25% increased performance compared to predecessor made in the 7nm process. It consumes 20% less power. The chip will power Xiaomi’s Mi 11, which will go on sale on January 1.
Snapdragon 888 will also be used in smartphones launched by Samsung, OnePlus, LG Electronics, Oppo, Vivo, Realme, Sony, ZTE, Meiju and Motorola.
Exynos 2100 is expected to be unveiled with the Galaxy S21 series on January 14.
It will be a major return for Exynos chips to the Galaxy S series. Samsung had mostly used Snapdragon chips for the Galaxy S20 launched last year. This year both Samsung and Qualcomm are expected to supply half the APs used for the Galaxy S21 series.
According to CounterPoint, MediaTek shipped the most smartphone AP with 31% market share in the third quarter. This was followed by Qualcomm’s 29%, HiSilicon’s 12%, Samsung’s 12% and Apple’s 12%. MediaTek said increased sales from mid-tier APs.
