Poor Exynos 2500 yields could bring MediaTek to the Galaxy S25
Samsung’s foundry division recently began mass production of mobile chipsets based on its 2nd-gen 3nm GAA (Gate All Around) process. While the Galaxy Watch 7 and Watch Ultra‘s Exynos W1000 is its first 3nm solution, the company’s real test was always the Exynos 2500. Unfortunately, it has encountered major production issues with poor yield rates.
In semiconductor production, yield refers to the percentage of chips that pass the quality check. Low yield means many manufactured chips are unusable and discarded, leading to wastage of wafers, production capacity, and resources. According to the Korean media, the Exynos 2500’s poor yield has raised doubts about its readiness for the Galaxy S25 series.
If Samsung can’t turn things around quickly — it’s looking unlikely as the firm has been struggling with poor 3nm yields for a long time — the Galaxy S25 series may lack an Exynos version. More importantly, it could introduce MediaTek to flagship Galaxy phones. The Korean firm may not want to only use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors for cost reasons.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is rumored to be around $40 costlier than MediaTek’s next-gen Dimensity 9400. Samsung would want to bring the latter into the mix to negotiate better with Qualcomm. If rumors are accurate, the Dimensity chip could power the base Galaxy S25 in some regions. Samsung might still use the Snapdragon in the US and a few other markets.
Meanwhile, the company’s foundry division is mulling a major strategic overhaul. Poor 3nm yields are said to affect its 2nm production schedule. It could spin to form a new entity as TSMC runs away with major chip contracts. The Taiwanese firm had a 62.3% market share in the foundry industry in Q2 2024 against Samsung’s 11.5%. It has also secured all contracts from all big chip companies, including Apple and Nvidia. Time will tell if a spin-off helps Samsung Foundry turn its fortunes around.
