Rumor | Samsung Galaxy S23 series to feature the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 exclusively amidst Exynos 2300 woes

Much has been rumored about Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S23 series and the silicon the phones are expected to sport. Conflicting reports have surfaced about the flagship phones' chances of using Samsung's in-house Exynos chipset, and the latest of the lot seems to hint at those chances being quite slim.

According to industry insider Ming-Chi Kuo, the Galaxy S23 series will likely be powered exclusively by a Qualcomm chipset. Supposedly, the Galaxy S23 series will completely abstain from using an Exynos chipset in favor of Qualcomm's next-gen SM8550 flagship chipset. That chipset is expected to be branded as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and will likely debut in mid-November. 

Reportedly, this shift in policy—previous Samsung Galaxy S flagships have used both Exynos and Snapdragon chipsets split by regional markets—comes due to Samsung's struggles with the Exynos 2300. The Exynos 2200 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 were both built on Samsung's 4nm node. TSMC's 4nm node has performed significantly better, however, prompting the release of the refreshed Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will be built on that same node, and Samsung understands that its process is unable to compete. 

The South Korean company recently announced a 3nm GAAFET manufacturing process that would likely compete well with TSMC's 4nm node, but yield rates are reportedly still too low to accommodate the production demands of the Galaxy S23 series. The node only just entered risk production as well, and will reportedly not be ready for mass production until the end of the year. Ergo, there's little to no chance the Galaxy S23 uses a chipset built on that process.

Word on the grapevine seems to indicate that Samsung will not be releasing the Exynos 2300 at all. However, reliable leaker Roland Quandt claims that the flagship chipset, codenamed "Quadra" was still in development at the end of May. If all of these reports are to be considered gospel, there's a chance Samsung does launch the Exynos 2300, but not on the Galaxy S23 series. 

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