Samsung is pulling out of the automotive application processor market, the segment it first targeted back in 2018. Word of the decision comes from Korean press reports, which say the company intends to halt work on future Exynos Auto silicon once the orders already on its books are fulfilled.
The Korean giant had locked in chip supply deals for those parts with Hyundai Motor in 2023 and with BMW of Germany a year later. Both programs are expected to run to completion, but Samsung has no plans to develop or build the successor generation that would have followed.
What is happening is a wider reshaping of the System LSI unit, the business inside Samsung Electronics that writes chip designs for handsets, cars, robots, and a long list of other products. Combined with the foundry arm, System LSI has been bleeding trillions of won each year. Executives believe a tighter, more selective roadmap offers the fastest route back to black.
Automotive chips were never an easy profit pool. Because a failure on the road is dangerous, these processors face tough safety and durability rules, and the engineering that satisfies them is expensive. Automakers do hand suppliers steady, high-volume contracts when they win them, yet Qualcomm holds a commanding grip on the automotive AP business, leaving challengers little room to grow.
Attention has swung to image sensors and next-generation mobile processors. Samsung landed an order to build sensors for newer Apple iPhones, and output began earlier this year at the company’s Austin, Texas foundry. Meanwhile the Exynos 2700 is in the pipeline, manufactured on Samsung’s second-generation 2nm node and scheduled for volume production in the fourth quarter. Display driver ICs, power management ICs, and data center chip design fill out the revised strategy.
