Samsung appears to be considering a significant change in its semiconductor roadmap, with new leaks suggesting the company is exploring fully custom CPU and GPU designs for a future Exynos processor. The move would mark a departure from its recent reliance on external partners and signal a renewed push toward in-house chip development.
According to information shared by Weibo tipster Smart Chip Guide, the rumoured Exynos 2800 could abandon standard ARM CPU cores and discontinue the use of AMD’s RDNA-based graphics technology. Samsung has relied on AMD GPU architectures in its flagship Exynos chips since 2022, making this a notable potential shift in strategy.
The company has prior experience with custom CPU development. Between 2016 and 2020, Samsung designed its own “Mongoose” CPU cores through a team based in Austin, Texas.
While those processors demonstrated strong peak performance, they were widely criticised for poor efficiency and thermal management, often underperforming against rival Snapdragon chips in everyday usage. Samsung ultimately shut down the project and reverted to off-the-shelf ARM designs.
The renewed effort suggests Samsung believes conditions have changed. Advances in semiconductor manufacturing—particularly its upcoming 2nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) process—could help overcome the efficiency challenges that plagued earlier custom cores.
A proprietary GPU could also allow Samsung tighter control over artificial intelligence workloads and deeper system-level optimisation across its Galaxy devices.
Current rumours indicate the Exynos 2800 may debut in the Galaxy S28 series around 2028, giving Samsung several years to refine the architecture. B
Before that, the Exynos 2600, expected to power the Galaxy S26 lineup, is believed to be the final Exynos chip to feature AMD’s RDNA graphics, despite reports that Samsung already manages much of the GPU implementation internally.
If the plan materialises, it would point to Samsung’s ambition to more closely follow the vertically integrated silicon strategy used by Apple. Whether the company can avoid the pitfalls of its earlier custom designs remains uncertain, but the reported shift suggests Samsung is once again willing to take on the risks of building its own core technologies.
(Source: Weibo )
