Samsung denies report that it’s developing its own CPU cores for ‘Galaxy Chip’

Kyle Bradshaw | Mar 6 2023 - 8:40 am PT

Industry sources claim that Samsung is building a team to develop its own CPU cores for the rumored “Galaxy Chip” for phones and laptops, but Samsung denies this report.

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Last year, Samsung’s TM Roh announced plans to develop its own chipset “unique” to Galaxy phones. Much like Google’s Tensor chips, these chips are presumed to use existing CPU core designs from ARM, but enhanced with Samsung’s preferred mix of tech to hopefully give an edge over chips from Qualcomm and even the company’s own Exynos processors. Soon after, leaked plans revealed that Samsung intends for its new chips — or applications processors (APs) — to debut in 2025 with the Galaxy S25 series.

New reporting from BusinessKorea reveals that Samsung is currently referring to the upcoming hardware as the “Galaxy Chip” series and affirms the plans to debut in 2025. Development on these chips is said to be ramping up in preparation, with the creation of two new teams within the company — “AP Solution Development Team” and “Mobile Experience (MX) Division.”

Looking beyond that initial debut, the report claims that Samsung is assembling an internal team to begin creating CPU cores of its own, rather than relying on designs from ARM. Reportedly to lead that team, Samsung has hired Rahul Tuli, who previously managed CPU design at AMD. If all goes according to the reported schedule, these custom CPU cores would be ready by 2027, and could appear in Galaxy smartphones as well as laptops and tablets.

That said, in a statement to SamMobile, Samsung has outright denied the claim that it is working on any custom CPU core designs. Instead, the company points to its long history of CPU development.

A recent media report that Samsung has established an internal team dedicated to CPU core development is not true. Contrary to the news, we have long had multiple internal teams responsible for CPU development and optimization, while constantly recruiting global talents from relevant fields.

In the past, Samsung has tried using its own Exynos chips in Galaxy phones, generally outside of the US market. However, with the launch of the Galaxy S23 series, the company has gone back to using Snapdragon processors in its flagship models globally. It remains to be seen whether Samsung’s latest efforts with the “Galaxy Chip” will pan out to see greater success than past attempts with the Exynos series.