Galaxy S25 may not use Snapdragon globally if Samsung’s efforts pay off

It was recently reported that Qualcomm may be the only supplier of chipsets for the Galaxy S25 series due next year. This would mean all three Galaxy S25 models will get the next-gen chipset, ostensibly called the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, globally. There won't be any variants with the rumored Exynos 2500 chipset.

That prospect already got a lot of fans excited, as some weren't happy with Samsung's decision to bring the Exynos back into the mix with this year's Galaxy S24 series, since going Snapdragon-only with last year's Galaxy S23 lineup delivered great results. However, it looks like Samsung is trying hard to make sure the Exynos 2500 is used in some variants of the 2025 flagship.

Samsung is desperately trying to increase the Exynos 2500 yields

According to a report out of South Korea, the reason why all Snapdragon is a possibility for the Galaxy S25 series is because the yields for the Exynos 2500 are very low. The yields have previously been in the single-digit range which wasn't ideal. However, Samsung has reportedly been able to make improvements to the process which has helped bring up the yield to 20%.

While that's a significant improvement, it's still not enough. The report adds that yields need to be at 60% minimum for the chip to enter mass production. Samsung needs to achieve this realistically by the third quarter of this year so that the chipsets can go in the Galaxy S25 units that will be released in the first quarter of 2025. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen.

Details about the Exynos 2500 are limited at this point in time. Some rumors have claimed that it could match or even best the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 in power efficiency due to being fabricated on Samsung's 2nd-generation 3nm process. Yet the lower yields do continue to present the risk of mass production not being a viable proposition if the minimum yield threshold isn't met in time.