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Samsung is reportedly preparing to build its own GPU architecture, a move that could debut with the Exynos 2800 and shift how Galaxy devices handle graphics and AI workloads.
Why Samsung might go solo
Since 2021 Samsung has collaborated with AMD on RDNA-based GPUs for several Exynos chips, delivering notable performance gains and fresh features. But a South Korean report claims the company will now design an entirely in-house GPU architecture, starting with the Exynos 2800 — a chip that could appear in Galaxy S28 models if timelines hold.
Why the change? Building a GPU internally would give Samsung tighter control over power, performance and integration across SoCs, phones and emerging form factors. Vertical ownership of both CPU and GPU blocks can unlock optimizations that are harder to achieve with third-party designs.
Samsung’s semiconductor arm has been quietly beefing up its GPU expertise for years. Multiple senior GPU engineers were hired with competitive packages, and recent recruitment included John Rayfield, a veteran who previously worked at AMD, Broadcom and Intel. Those hires suggest Samsung isn’t just experimenting — it’s investing to compete at the architecture level.
Historically, Exynos chips like the 2200, 2400 and 2500 used AMD-developed GPUs. The Exynos 2600, meanwhile, appeared to be an intermediate step where Samsung’s System LSI took on more in-house development while still leveraging RDNA ideas. If the new reports are accurate, the Exynos 2800 will mark Samsung’s full transition to its own GPU design.
What could this mean in practice? Beyond flagship phones, Samsung could deploy in-house GPUs across tablets, AR glasses, autonomous vehicle platforms, humanoid robots, and even custom ASICs for AI workloads — similar to how Broadcom or Marvell create chips tailored to big cloud customers.
If Samsung successfully ships a native GPU architecture, it would join a very small club of companies that design their own GPU cores — think AMD, Intel, Nvidia and Qualcomm — and that would be a milestone for the company’s chip ambitions.
Source: sammobile
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