To Resolve GOS and GPS Issues
Samsung Electronics is reportedly planning to develop an application processor (AP) exclusively for its Galaxy smartphones. The company's move was prompted by the recent controversy over the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the game optimizing service (GOS) of the Galaxy S22 series.
Roh Tae-moon, president of Samsung Electronics’ MX Business Division, reportedly announced at a town hall meeting in March that he will orchestrate the development of an AP exclusively for Galaxy smartphones. He made the remark when an employee asked him how he would address the GOS controversy.
Samsung Electronics was hit hard by the GOS controversy related to the Galaxy S22. The GOS optimizes the state of a smartphone when high-end games are played to prevent overheating or excessive power consumption. However, the function is activated regardless of the user's will, lowering the smartphone's performance.
The main culprit behind the GOS scandal is said to be the AP. The Galaxy S22 series is loaded with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or Samsung’s Exynos 2200. But experts have pointed out that neither chip can address the Galaxy S22 series’ overheating problem. Some experts raised the possibility of a yield problem at Samsung Electronics’ foundry lines, which produced the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and the Exynos 2200.
Some users of the Galaxy S22 also complain that the GPS does not work properly on their smartphones. Samsung blamed the Exynos 2200 for the GPS error.
Roh appears to think that these problems can be addressed by developing an AP exclusive for Samsung smartphones like Apple. Exynos APs are also supplied to other smartphone manufacturers such as Vivo.
Exynos APs are on the skids in the AP market. Samsung’s share of the AP market stood at only 6.6 percent last year, according to market research firm Strategy Analytics (SA). This was significantly lower than Qualcomm's 37.7 percent, MediaTek's 26.3 percent and Apple's 26 percent.