The Snapdragon 835 is a heck of a mobile processor, and Samsung did well this year securing the first batch for the Galaxy S8/S8+ launch. They’ve now reportedly snapped up the first batch of the yet to be announced Snapdragon 845 processor for the Galaxy S9 (and S9+?).
The report comes from a Chinese social networking site Weibo with user Ice Universe a leaker of some note reporting that Samsung has snapped up the initial batch for the S9.
Samsung only uses the Snapdragon 845 processor in two markets: China and the US due to LTE and CDMA bands required in those markets. In other markets we see the Samsung built Exynos processors used in their Galaxy S and Galaxy Note handsets. While we won’t be affected by the allocation in this case, it’s the flow-on effects that could affect our mobile landscape.
After Samsung snapped up the initial Snapdragon 835 allocation, OEMs such as LG and HTC who would have released high-end phones like the G series and U series handsets, found themselves using last years processor of choice, the Snapdragon 820/821. This seems to be what we’ll see next year – or they may choose to have a later launch to ensure they get the benefits of the latest processor. While there’s not a lot wrong, and a lot right with the previous years Qualcomm processor, the prestige of having the latest may affect sales…again.
At this stage it’s just a rumour, but with Samsung’s clout a fairly strong one, so we’ll have to wait and see what effects, if any, this will have on the mobile launches for 2018.
