Samsung Electronics says it is ready to debut its first 5-nanometer processor in China, suitable for 5G smartphones. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI |
License Photo
Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Samsung Electronics is expected to unveil its next-generation mobile application processor in China as Chinese smartphone manufacturers could be struggling to procure parts amid restrictive U.S. export controls.
Samsung said Monday its Chinese subsidiary is to hold a public event for its mobile AP, the Exynos 1080, in Shanghai on Nov. 12, South Korean newspaper Hankook Ilbo reported Monday. The event will mark the first time Samsung holds a microprocessor unveiling in China, according to the report.
The company said the AP, the nerve center of smartphone operations, includes a computer-processing unit, a graphic processing unit and a modem chip, the device that modulates signals in a way that encodes data to be received by another modem.
The Exynos 1080 includes Samsung's first 5-nanometer processor, and is specialized for low-end mobile phone products, the report says. The 5-nanometer chip shows a 20% to 30% improvement from the existing 7-nanometer application processor, according to Samsung.
The mobile AP is suitable for installation in China on the new Vivo X60, a 5G smartphone. Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp. and Xiaomi are also potential clients, the report says.
Samsung is pitching its new AP in China at a time when U.S. tech companies are still some of the biggest suppliers of core components globally. Qualcomm and Apple are two of the top suppliers in the smartphone AP market, according to Counterpoint Research.
Samsung is one of the largest producers of tech devices worldwide. Its founding family continues to mourn the death of former Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee.
Under Lee, the company's assets grew to $774 billion by 2018, from $9.2 billion in 1987, the year he took over the leadership, according to Economy Chosun, the business news service of the Chosun Ilbo on Monday. Lee was the first to develop the world's first 64-gigabyte NAND Flash chip in 2007. By 2018, Samsung held a 44.3% market share in the global dynamic random-access memory or DRAM market.
