A New AP Produced with 5-nm Technology
Chinese smartphone maker Vivo's X60, a 5G-capable mobile phone that will be released in the first quarter of 2021, will become the first smartphone to run on Samsung Electronics’ 5-nanometer mobile application processor (AP) Exynos1080.
"The new Vivo smartphone will use Samsung’s Exynos1080 produced through a 5-nm process," said Pan Xuebao, executive director of Samsung Electronics' China Semiconductor Research Institute, at a Vivo event on Oct. 7. “The Exynos1080 earned a higher performance score than Qualcomm's Snapdragon 865.”
The specifications of the Exynos1080 have not been disclosed, but the new chipset is presumed to be a follow-up to the Exynos 980 used for Samsung Electronics' 5G smartphones Galaxy A51and A71.
Samsung Electronics is focusing on expanding the number of Exynos buyers in China. This is because the U.S. sanctions against Huawei are expected to prompt Chinese smartphone makers to use APs from external vendors.
Industry insiders believe that Samsung Electronics is offering more reasonable prices than Qualcomm to win orders from Chinese companies.