Samsung has started mass production of its new system chips, producing semiconductors using 10 nanometer technology, for which it claims to be the first one to develop.
"The industry's first mass production of 10nm FinFET technology demonstrates our leadership in advanced process technology," Jong Shik Yoon, Samsung Electronics' VP, said.
The 10nm process involves an advanced 3D transistor structure, alongside improvements in both design enablement and process technology that are notches higher compared to the 14nm process. The smartphone industry can expect a 27 percent increase in performance, and a 40 percent decrease in power consumption, as reported by Business Wire.
A new device will use the new chips, as written in a statement by the company. It didn't specify what device will use the 10nm chips, but it's due to launch early next year. It's highly likely that the unnamed device could be Samsung's next flagship device after the Galaxy S7, called the Galaxy S8. The "early next year" timestamp proves this further, since Samsung releases its "S" lineup on the first half of the year, and its "Note" lineup on the second half. No word, though, on Note 7's successor.
Samsung Galaxy 8 is rumored to have a 4K display with support for virtual reality, and a processor that catches up quite firmly to the power requirements of mobile VR technology. It's purported to pack the Exynos 8895 processor with ARM's new Mali-G71 for its GPU.
"The Mali-G71 GPU was developed expressly to meet the needs of new industry advancements such as the Vulkan cross-platform graphics API from Khronos as well as the ever growing demand for a smooth mobile VR experience," ARM's website listing says. Alluding to the rumored 4K VR-ready display of the Galaxy S8.
Tech Times previously reported that Samsung will exclusively manufacture Qualcomm's Snapdragon 830 processor, the successor to Snapdragon 820. Samsung is in a great working relationship with Qualcomm; it still manufactures the 820 to this day. The 830 will reportedly be produced using 10nm technology.
If rumors are true, Samsung is shipping Galaxy S8 units with Snapdragon 830 in the U.S., and Galaxy S8 units with Exynos 8895 will ship to the rest of the world, a similar strategy the company implemented with its Galaxy S7 and S7 edge devices.
Samsung's 10nm SoC technology will be launched early next year, as previously mentioned, and will branch out into more devices throughout 2017.
Samsung chip business is a way to recoup its massive profit losses due to the production halt of Galaxy Note 7 devices, which suffered critical, commercial and even legal backlash per its life-threatening design flaw, causing the devices to explode unexpectedly. The Galaxy S8, needless to say, will not inherit the same issues that marred the Note 7, if Samsung has learned its lesson.
