Samsung has reportedly bagged a contract to manufacture Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 830 chipset. The next high-end smartphone SoC from Qualcomm will reportedly use Samsung's 10nm process for a smaller size, improved power efficiency, and greater performance.
According to a report from ETNews, Samsung LSI will manufacture all the Snapdragon 830 chipsets. It is also being reported that half of the Galaxy S8 units will make use of Snapdragon 830 processor while remaining will use Samsung's upcoming Exynos 8895 chipset. The Exynos 8895 SoC will also use this new 10nm process for better overall performance compared to this year's 14nm-baed Exynos 8890 chipset.
Samsung and Qualcomm will jointly develop FoPLP (Fan-out Panel Level Package) technology for the Snapdragon 830 and the Exynos 8895 chipsets. This eliminates the need to use printed circuit boards (PCB) for the package substrate, which will, in turn, reduce the cost of production. It will also allow an easier way to increase input and output (I/O) ports and to manufacture thinner packages.
Qualcomm faced a lot of flak due to overheating issues in last year's Snapdragon 810 and Snapdragon 808 chips, and the company will face a lot of competition this year since LG and Huawei have started manufacturing their in-house solutions. Apple has proved to offer much better performance with its A10 Fusion chipset used in the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
