Samsung had potentially partnered with MediaTek to provide the Dimensity 9000 for its flagship Galaxy S series. As the Taiwanese company surprised the high-end Android SoC market with its launch, mainstream manufacturers began to take notice of MediaTek and its possible direction. Unfortunately, the deal between the two companies never materialized. Sources claim that most of the supply of MediaTek Dimensity 9300 has been allocated to Chinese customers, among other reasons, mainly due to the scarcity of supply of the chipset.
When Dimensity9000 was released as early as 2021, MediaTek did not mass-produce a sufficient number of products to make it widely available to multiple customers. Revegnus posted on X that the estimated number was only 10 million. Given that Samsung's annual Galaxy S shipments are roughly three times that of MediaTek's, it was clear that it couldn't keep up with demand, and the deal ultimately fell through.
However, there are other opportunities for Samsung to cooperate with MediaTek to produce future chips. The Dimensity9300 is such a possibility, but the latest news shows that the chipmaker has also allocated all available shipments to Chinese customers.
In addition, MediaTek Dimensity9300 production is estimated at 30 million to 35 million units, which is still not enough for Samsung as it has already signed agreements with other customers. Also, even if MediaTek manages to produce a lot of products for the Korean giant, Qualcomm is not going to sit idly by as the San Diego company has already signed a multi-year deal to be the chipset supplier for the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S26 series. In fact, in the fourth quarter of 2023, 40% of Qualcomm's smartphone chip revenue was attributed to Samsung, indicating a symbiotic business relationship between the two.
Looking at the cost, each Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 unit costs $200, which is an expensive expenditure for Samsung, and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is said to be more expensive than its predecessor, so the Korean manufacturer may have a tough time going forward. However, as mentioned above, this is a symbiotic relationship, which means that both Samsung and Qualcomm need each other to grow in this fiercely competitive market, so in the near future, the whistleblower believes that MediaTek will not join Samsung’s camp soon, but this does not mean that the two parties cannot have closed-door negotiations.
Given that Samsung's own Exynos chipset still lags behind its competitors, if the flagship MediaTek Dimensity chip can be sold at a lower price than the Snapdragon chipset, Samsung may be attracted to make an offer. For Qualcomm, whether its own chips can continue to sell at high prices will also become a headache.