Exynos’ comeback might be good for Samsung and the competition

The Exynos 2500 was announced earlier this week. It is Samsung's first 3nm chip for smartphones and tablets, and will debut with the Galaxy Z Flip 7 next month. It marks the comeback of Exynos after being absent from the Galaxy S25. While most smartphone enthusiasts might not like this comeback, it might actually be good for Samsung and the whole smartphone industry.

Exynos processors have had power efficiency and performance throttling issues in the past, which is why enthusiasts don't like Samsung's in-house chips. But their track record is not all bad. The Exynos 2100 and the Exynos 2400 were decent, if not chart-topping. While the Exynos 2500's performance hasn't been measured completely yet, its raw CPU performance appears to be higher than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 but lower than the Snapdragon 8 Elite.

We need to look at it considering the device's form factor it is used in. The Exynos 2500's leaked Geekbench scores are from the Galaxy Z Flip 7. So, a more apples-to-apples comparison would be with a flip phone like the Motorola RAZR 60 Ultra, which uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite.

For now, it appears that the performance of the Exynos 2500 isn't worse than the Snapdragon 8 Elite. And that could mean Samsung has made a chip that mostly keeps up with its Snapdragon rival. Since the performance is similar, rivals like MediaTek and Qualcomm would be either forced to do better with future chips or make them available at lower prices. That can put a hold on rising smartphone prices.

However, we also need to look at their GPU performance and efficiency figures before giving a final conclusion.

It is not just Exynos' comeback. It is Samsung Foundry's comeback as well. TSMC was the only company that made 3nm chips. But now, Samsung Foundry has made its first 3nm chip for phones. And Exynos 2500's success would mean that other firms like Qualcomm can look at Samsung Foundry as an alternative to TSMC, which has been charging more each year for its advanced nodes.

If Samsung Foundry gets more orders from the likes of MediaTek and Qualcomm, TSMC will be forced to reduce its prices. And that could potentially mean lower chip prices and lower smartphone costs in general.

More competition in the chip design and the chip fabricating stages could ultimately mean smartphone brands won't have to spend more on buying smartphone chips in the future. And this is why Exynos 2500 could be a good thing to happen for Samsung and other smartphone brands in general.

We hope Samsung won't disappoint with its new high-end Exynos chip like it has in the past, as it is too important for the company's future.