‘Samsung wants to place chip division in separate companies’

According to a report, Samsung plans to split its smartphone chip design and manufacturing division into several standalone companies. This with a view to the maximum profitability of all components.

The rumor comes from the Korean business news site BusinessKorea, which bases it on “many industry sources.” Samsung’s System LSI Division now consists of four parts: a soc design department, the LSI development team, which makes camera sensors and display driver chips, the ‘foundry’, where the chips are produced, and the support team. According to the report, Samsung plans to merge the two design departments and separate them from the foundry again.

Samsung would take the step after the setback of losing the contract to make some of the A10 chips for Apple’s iPhone 7. There are rumors that Samsung has also lost the contract to manufacture the Apple A11 chip. The Taiwanese TSMC, which has been manufacturing some of the Apple chips for some time, would now receive the full contract for not only the A10, but also the A11.

Although Samsung seems to have lost the contract with Apple, the company has reportedly won the contract to produce the Snapdragon 830 soc for Qualcomm alone. Before that, Samsung was already responsible for the production of the Snapdragon 820.