We reported last week that Samsung was planning to drop Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 processor from its forthcoming Galaxy S6 smartphone in favor of its in-house processor. Now Bloomberg has learned from people with direct knowledge of the matter that Samsung has indeed decided to dump the Snapdragon 810 processor. The decision has not been made public yet. Qualcomm shares tumbled more than 6% to $68 in pre-market trading Wednesday.
Qualcomm is yet to resolve the overheating issue
The world’s largest mobile chipmaker showcased its latest Snapdragon 810 processor at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month. But the ultra-powerful processor has been suffering from overheating issues that Qualcomm is yet to resolve. The Galaxy S6 will be equipped with Samsung’s most advanced processor, most likely Exynos 7420.
Samsung is bolstering its processor business to grow overall sales as its smartphone business continues to shrink. The company is setting up a $15 billion chip production facility outside Seoul. The Korean electronics giant makes up 12% of Qualcomm’s total revenue. HI Investment & Securities analyst Song Myung Sup said that the Galaxy S6 will be unveiled in early March.
The world’s largest smartphone maker cannot afford to use a chip that faces overheating issues for its most important model. However, Xiaomi has agreed to use Snapdragon 810 in its next phablet Mi Note Pro, while LG Electronics will release its G Flex 2 running Snapdragon 810 later this month.
Galaxy S6 may not be water-resistant
Another report from WebTrek (via GSM Arena) claims that the Galaxy S6 will not be water-resistant. The Korean company has been struggling with declining profits as its Q4 profits fell 37%. The report adds that Samsung will do away with IP certification from the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge to increase its profit margins. The Galaxy S5 was launched last year with IP67 certification, which means it could survive up to 30 minutes at one meter underwater.
The Galaxy S6 is expected to feature a 5.5-inch Quad HD screen, 20-megapixel main camera 5MP front snapper, 3GB RAM, and Android Lollipop.
