Samsung already has a robust business developing its own processors and SoCs (systems-on-a-chip). These power many of its smartphones and more recently have begun to power some of its wearables. A second business unit may be about to get into the application processor business as well, according to South Korea’s Electronic Times News. The report suggests that Samsung Mobile will develop a new processor aimed at future wearables and smartwatches more specifically. In fact, it could power the upcoming Samsung Gear S3.
Samsung already used its own 1GHz dual-core Exynos 3250 processor to power smartwatches such as the Gear S and Gear S2. It may in fact be more powerful than a wearable needs. The new processor would be optimized for wearables by using a single Cortex-A7 core and reduce the clock speed below 1GHz. At the same time, more emphasis would be placed on extending battery life and collecting sensor data while consuming as little power as possible.
Given that Samsung only recently launched the Samsung Gear S2, it presumably has the time to develop the new processor and the new watch (the Samsung Gear S3 perhaps?) that it would power. We may not see either until the fall of 2016 if Samsung opts for a yearly cycle for future smartwatch releases.
Samsung is not alone in thinking about wearable-optimized processors. ARM recently announced the ARM Cortex-A35, a new processor that could also make its way into future wearables. It promises a 64-bit architecture that offers 20% better performance than the Cortex-A7 while using about a third less power than the Cortex-A53.
Sources : Electronic Times News // G for Gadgets