15 September 2025
Samsung Galaxy Tab S series faces criticism over outdated chipset once again
Korea JoongAng Daily - Daily News from Korea
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This article is by Lee Ga-ram and read by an artificial voice.
Samsung Electronics' flagship Galaxy Tab S tablet line is once again facing criticism for shipping with an already-outdated chipset - a repeat of the same issue it faced last year.
The crux of the problem is the tablet's reliance on an off-the-shelf chip supplied by a third-party manufacturer rather than an in-house processor. Industry attention is now turning to whether Samsung's self-developed Exynos chipsets might offer a solution going forward.
Samsung unveiled its latest Galaxy Tab S11 lineup on Sept. 4 at the IFA electronics trade show in Berlin, Germany. This year's flagship series includes the 11-inch Galaxy Tab S11 and the 14.6-inch Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra.
Prices range from 998,800 won ($717) to around 2.41 million won, depending on memory and storage configurations.
Samsung placed particular emphasis on its mobile application processor (AP) for this year's model.
"For the first time in the Galaxy Tab series, a 3-nanometer processor has been adopted," Samsung said. "CPU performance has improved by about 24 percent, GPU by 27 percent and NPU by 33 percent compared to the previous model, offering faster and more efficient performance."
Mobile APs, also referred to as chipsets, integrate central processing units (CPU), graphics processing units (GPU), memory and storage components into a single chip.
But the problem is that the chipset Samsung is promoting as a highlight will soon be outdated. The Galaxy Tab S11 series is powered by Taiwan-based MediaTek's Dimensity 9400+ chip - the same processor used in Xiaomi's Redmi K Pad, which launched in China in June.
MediaTek is scheduled to release its next-generation Dimensity 9500 chip on Sept. 22, according to foreign media reports.
This mismatch between product launch and chip update is not new. Samsung released the Galaxy Tab S10 series with the Dimensity 9300+ chip in October 2024. Just five days later, MediaTek launched the Dimensity 9400, rendering Samsung's new tablet already a generation behind in terms of its processor.
On online communities such as Reddit, some users commented, "The Galaxy Tab S always launches at the wrong time," and "No one wants a premium tablet with a last-gen chip."
In contrast, Apple launched its new iPad Pro in May 2024, simultaneously unveiling its next-generation M4 chip. At the time, Johny Srouji, Apple's senior vice president of Hardware Technologies, said, "The new iPad Pro powered by the M4 chip is a great example of how the best custom silicon enables the best products."
Samsung's reliance on external chipmakers is also taking a toll on its smartphone business. While the Galaxy S series features Qualcomm's latest dedicated chipsets, the high cost is proving burdensome.
In the first half of this year alone, Samsung paid Qualcomm 7.79 trillion won in mobile AP procurement fees - a 29.2 percent increase from the same period last year. The figure even exceeds the 7.4 trillion won operating profit posted by Samsung's MX (Mobile eXperience) division during the same period.
Despite solid sales performance, the figures highlight a need for cost-saving measures.
All eyes are now on Samsung's next-generation Exynos chip, which could simultaneously address both the chip timing mismatch and profitability concerns. Due to performance shortcomings, Samsung's flagship products have largely excluded Exynos chips in recent years in favor of better-performing alternatives.
But expectations are rising after the company's in-development Exynos 2600 reportedly posted promising benchmark results, with performance approaching that of Qualcomm's next-generation chip.
The presumed Exynos 2600 recorded a single-core score of 3,309 and a multi-core score of 11,256, according to performance benchmarking platform Geekbench. Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Elite, presumed to be its rival, scored 3,393 in single-core and 11,515 in multi-core tests.
Samsung is expected to equip its Galaxy S26 ...
Samsung Electronics' flagship Galaxy Tab S tablet line is once again facing criticism for shipping with an already-outdated chipset - a repeat of the same issue it faced last year.
The crux of the problem is the tablet's reliance on an off-the-shelf chip supplied by a third-party manufacturer rather than an in-house processor. Industry attention is now turning to whether Samsung's self-developed Exynos chipsets might offer a solution going forward.
Samsung unveiled its latest Galaxy Tab S11 lineup on Sept. 4 at the IFA electronics trade show in Berlin, Germany. This year's flagship series includes the 11-inch Galaxy Tab S11 and the 14.6-inch Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra.
Prices range from 998,800 won ($717) to around 2.41 million won, depending on memory and storage configurations.
Samsung placed particular emphasis on its mobile application processor (AP) for this year's model.
"For the first time in the Galaxy Tab series, a 3-nanometer processor has been adopted," Samsung said. "CPU performance has improved by about 24 percent, GPU by 27 percent and NPU by 33 percent compared to the previous model, offering faster and more efficient performance."
Mobile APs, also referred to as chipsets, integrate central processing units (CPU), graphics processing units (GPU), memory and storage components into a single chip.
But the problem is that the chipset Samsung is promoting as a highlight will soon be outdated. The Galaxy Tab S11 series is powered by Taiwan-based MediaTek's Dimensity 9400+ chip - the same processor used in Xiaomi's Redmi K Pad, which launched in China in June.
MediaTek is scheduled to release its next-generation Dimensity 9500 chip on Sept. 22, according to foreign media reports.
This mismatch between product launch and chip update is not new. Samsung released the Galaxy Tab S10 series with the Dimensity 9300+ chip in October 2024. Just five days later, MediaTek launched the Dimensity 9400, rendering Samsung's new tablet already a generation behind in terms of its processor.
On online communities such as Reddit, some users commented, "The Galaxy Tab S always launches at the wrong time," and "No one wants a premium tablet with a last-gen chip."
In contrast, Apple launched its new iPad Pro in May 2024, simultaneously unveiling its next-generation M4 chip. At the time, Johny Srouji, Apple's senior vice president of Hardware Technologies, said, "The new iPad Pro powered by the M4 chip is a great example of how the best custom silicon enables the best products."
Samsung's reliance on external chipmakers is also taking a toll on its smartphone business. While the Galaxy S series features Qualcomm's latest dedicated chipsets, the high cost is proving burdensome.
In the first half of this year alone, Samsung paid Qualcomm 7.79 trillion won in mobile AP procurement fees - a 29.2 percent increase from the same period last year. The figure even exceeds the 7.4 trillion won operating profit posted by Samsung's MX (Mobile eXperience) division during the same period.
Despite solid sales performance, the figures highlight a need for cost-saving measures.
All eyes are now on Samsung's next-generation Exynos chip, which could simultaneously address both the chip timing mismatch and profitability concerns. Due to performance shortcomings, Samsung's flagship products have largely excluded Exynos chips in recent years in favor of better-performing alternatives.
But expectations are rising after the company's in-development Exynos 2600 reportedly posted promising benchmark results, with performance approaching that of Qualcomm's next-generation chip.
The presumed Exynos 2600 recorded a single-core score of 3,309 and a multi-core score of 11,256, according to performance benchmarking platform Geekbench. Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Elite, presumed to be its rival, scored 3,393 in single-core and 11,515 in multi-core tests.
Samsung is expected to equip its Galaxy S26 ...