Qualcomm has no intention to manufacture a Snapdragon 865+ variant this year, according to a recent report citing the head of Meizu Technology Marketing, Wan Zhiqiang. And although this may be disappointing news for tech enthusiasts, it could actually work in Samsung's favor.
Samsung's H2 2019 flagships including the Galaxy Note 10 lost a bit of ground to the competition. The S Pen device was equipped with the Snapdragon 855 SoC, whereas many rival flagships launched around the same time boasted the Snapdragon 855+ chipset instead. And although some rumors from the Twitter sphere claimed that the Galaxy Note 20 will have a Snapdragon 865+ chipset, early benchmarks suggested otherwise, and so did Samsung's H2 2019 strategy, if that's any indication of how things will turn out in the later part off 2020.
This could also mean the Galaxy Fold 2 won't make use of an upgraded Snapdragon 865 SoC in some markets. As a reminder, the original Fold was updated with a Snapdragon 855+ in China. Similarly, the direct sequel to the Galaxy Z Flip might not use a Plus spinoff of Qualcomm's silicon solution, but that's another matter for 2021.
Samsung's foundry business could benefit as well
The Snapdragon 865 is manufactured by TSMC who is Samsung's biggest rival in the foundry business. Logic dictates that if Qualcomm has plans to release a Snapdragon 865+ this year, it would also be made by TSMC.
However, if Meizu's head of Technology Marketing is correct and Qualcomm won't be developing a Snapdragon 865+ this year, this would mean less business for TSMC. While it's conjecture at this point, less business for TSMC could benefit Samsung in closing the gap between it and its biggest rival.
