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Rumor: Samsung Galaxy S4 to have different chipsets in different regions

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This is one rumor we don’t want to hear as we come up on the eve of Samsung’s March 14th Unpacked event in New York City. According to JP Morgan via Taipei Times, Samsung could be looking to launch the Samsung Galaxy S4 with two different sets of silicon. Rumor has it that those in Europe will be getting the Samsung Galaxy S4 with the new Exynos 5 Octa chipset, while those of us in the United States would have to live with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 600 chipset.

If true, it wouldn’t be the first time Samsung has done something like this. The Samsung Galaxy S3 launched in the United States with a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chipset, largely because an LTE modem wasn’t ready for the device’s Exynos chipset by the time it reached market. This problem was cleared up by the time the Galaxy Note 2 launched, a phone which featured Samsung’s own-built chipset in nearly every market it sold in.

No word was given on why, exactly, Samsung would go this route for its 2013 flagship. We have a hard time believing the Korean manufacturer doesn’t have a grasp on LTE modems by now. Other factors might be in play here, as well, such as cost or insufficient production capital (whether it be shortcomings with Samsung’s manufacturing line or with scarce resources). The Snapdragon 600 is no slouch, but we’d be lying if we said we’d hoped to see Samsung’s latest chipset innovations inside all of its 2013 flagship handsets.

Quentyn Kennemer
The "Google Phone" sounded too awesome to pass up, so I bought a G1. The rest is history. And yes, I know my name isn't Wilson.

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44 Comments

  1. Say it isn’t so!

  2. Slight correction for your second sentence, and for future reference:
    Silicone = fake boobs
    Silicon = computer chips

    1. Samsung clearly want’s to put fake boobs in their…….. I can’t even finish typing that I’m laughing too much. BWAHAHAHAAAA

      1. Shhhhhhh, don’t say it before Apple steals the new revolutionary airbag functionality

        1. Those Apple jokes are real original their bud…geez haven’t ever seen those in like every thread here on phandroid

        2. Those Apple jokes are real original there bud…geez haven’t ever seen those in like every thread here on phandroid

          1. But why are you here, boring i-sporting troll? It’s good you posted twice – I was able to down-rate you twice too.

          2. Why do people call everyone who makes low-quality posts a “troll”? The word is supposed to refer to somebody who posts intentionally in order to get a rise out of people. If someone who makes low-quality posts doesn’t do so, then they’re just a regular old shitposter.

          3. Duly noted, good catch, Sir!

          4. Spoken like a BOSS!

          5. You really got me there.

          6. Shut up iSheep! Your meaningless bleating hurts my ears. You can leave now and go graze on some iCrap

    2. This is Phandroid we are talking about here so cut the short bus kids some slack!

    3. No offense, but it’s not like these writers on these blog sites are real journalists. Haven’t you noticed every Android blog site is essentially exactly the same with pretty much the exact same headlines and articles. They all pretty much just fish other sites all day long then take stuff from other sites, put it up on their own site and slap a source link on the bottom so they don’t get in trouble. Visit any Android blog, they are all pretty much the same stuff posted all day long all from the same sources.

      1. Why do people like yourself say “no offense” if your being offensive that statement isnt gonna change anything

        1. Having morals on the internet is stupid anyway, it’s not like it makes a difference.

      2. Yah, those Apple blog sites. They’re all so VERY different. They never talk about the same things. Oops, the Apple blog sites don’t have anything to talk about since they have only one phone per year unless its a new fart app. So I guess they’re still talking about the same thing… nothing.. except Android things.

  3. Hope so, because exynos is an instant buy for me, with a snapdragon 600 i have more choices then a Samsung, so i won’t end up using a Samsung i think ;)…

  4. haha I hope this is true

  5. I don’t really care, I’m probably going to get an HTC One! It looks great.

    1. this!!!

    2. Is it just me or does the one look really really ugly…the two speakers grills on top and bottom look awful imo..

  6. Apple Iphone 5 is the way forward! Samsung is a great brand/product especially at the cost!, but Apple are market leaders and clearly smash sales on a month by month basis. its a piece of Art…..

    When are manufacturers going to give us the following:-
    1) outstanding battery life
    2) outstanding reception quality
    3) bug free phone

    Future of Phones
    handsize form factor
    super slim HD resolution
    wireless charging battery
    superfast wireless/connectivity

    1. Just inaccurate on all levels. Samsung is the world leader in mobile phone sales. The iPhone 5 is nice to look at but offers little revolution from past iPhones and the software is old and stale. Samsung at the very least are full of innovation and scope whilst, whether you like it or not, Android is growing with new features and ideas at a rapid scale.

      Future of phones – Seems like all of the “future” points you make are in fact available in phones today. Check out Samsung’s advertisement for a possible future phone (Youm) using flexible OLED displays – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmQ7SlvYMzk

      Lastly, unless you’re privy to some information we’re not, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S4 promises to be an advancement on the S3 which itself was more than a match for the iPhone 5…

    2. 1. battery life is no different than other competing phones. fact.
      2. reception quality is no different than other competing phones on same network. fact.
      3. bug free phone? Really? Siri? Maps? SMS message (still takes hours to receive a msg sometimes)? frequent app crashes for no reason.

      Future of phones… what you blew your load up top. $teve Job$ stated no one would want an SUV-sized phone yet they followed suit by making a larger one after the market showed people want bigger screens. The Note is selling like crazy.. bigger screen. Wireless charging is getting to be the norm, something NOT started on an iphone. “Superfast” wireless? .N is .N is .N. .ac will be .ac will be .ac. Basically, stfu.. wireless is wireless, you derp.

    3. “Future of Phones” – precisely! But not the smartphones.

    4. Troll an Android site to glorify the iPhone: revolutionary.

      1. Indeed – buy why dignify the poor iSheep chap with a reply?

    5. Bug free? Just the other day my friend was wondering why his iPhone 5 was draining fast even though he wasn’t using it.

      I’ll just stop talking. No need to feed the needy.

    6. With all Apple’s restrictions, can we really even call iPhone a true smartphone…I think not.

    7. Sales have clearly shown “hand sized form factor” is not the future. Add together the S3, Note 1&2, HTC one, Optimus G, plus the many other 4.5 in. + phone sales and you have way more phones sold outside of that “hand sized form factor.”

  7. I think the Snapdragon 800 is soooo impressive, that I might end up passing on the S4, and wait for a smartphone with the Snapdragon 800 in it, that thing will be able to unlock so many capabilities that we aren’t even accustomed to in today’s smartphones. Plus I want that QuickCharge 2.0 technology.

    1. That’s what I’m going to be waiting for…I’m hoping that the Google-Motorola use this chip for the rumored Xphone that they are working on…

  8. i think the questions i have with this is
    1) with the Samsung Galaxy S4 with the new Exynos 5 Octa chipset, will it be a GSM or LTE compatible format that with some creativeness can be U.S. adapted?
    2) why do they, Samsung, not get the memo that we, the US consumer, want the same sweet technology that the rest of the world is getting and leaving us behind in less than par processors?
    3) does anyone else feel like this HTC bullsh!t games all over again???

    1. Not much point getting too worked up over a rumour, better to wait for the unveiling of facts. I’m having a hard time believing this one anyway – the split over the S3 was for an understandable technical reason that’s unlikely to be repeated, and the alternative they put in place wasn’t so bad. I’m personally miffed that we only got 1GB RAM in the international version, but it’s still a great phone that I love using. I haven’t seen this rumour crop up anywhere else so far and the timing of it suggests that it could just be trolling to spread negative feelings before the launch.

      tl;dr – Wait and see :-)

      1. Pretty much every tech site has reported this. You needn’t get out more.

    2. By the way, there’s nothing “less than par” about Snapdragon SoC’s. However, I will agree that every Galaxy S device should have the same inner bits.

  9. I have the S3 and was looking forward to its predecessor as my next phone but after getting my gf a note 2 I realized how much better that line of phones is compared to the S line. I think I will wait for the next note phone.

    1. Check the definition of predecessor. (hint: you’d be referring to the S2)

  10. makes me happy I went with the Note 2

  11. I feel their rushing it, why couldn’t they wait a couple months till they workout the kinks in the Exynos.

  12. It would be a huge bummer if Qualcomm 800 is not used.
    December: Samsung Galaxy S4+! lol

    1. They aren’t htc

  13. I really hope that this isn’t true. I’m tired of chip set manufactures making processors that aren’t compatible in the U.S. It’s 2013, if your processor isn’t compatible with U.S. markets, then it isn’t a finished product.

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