Samsung, AMD to extend cooperation on graphics processing unit

Samsung Electronics will extend its cooperation with AMD to integrate the U.S. chip designer’s graphics processing unit (GPU) architecture into a broader range of its mobile chips.

The Korean tech giant announced Thursday that the two parties signed “a multi-year agreement extension” to license AMD’s GPU design — branded as RDNA (Radeon DNA) — for its Exynos processor.

Given that the Exynos chips for high-end Galaxy lines were already being fitted with AMD-designed architecture, the extended agreement is mainly meant for chips used in lower-end Galaxy phones, according to industry insiders.

Samsung Electronics expects that the use of AMD’s GPU could significantly enhance user gaming experience.

“Through the licensing extension, Samsung will bring console-level graphics quality and optimized power consumption to more mobile devices, offering an incredibly immersive and long-lasting gaming experience,” the company said in a statement.

One of the latest collaborations that involve the two companies is Xclipse, the GPU integrated into Exynos 2200 that powers the Galaxy S22 series.

“Together with AMD, Samsung has been revolutionizing mobile graphics, including our recent collaboration that brought ray tracing capabilities to mobile processors for the first time in the industry,” said Lee Seog-jun, executive vice president of application processor development at Samsung Electronics.

“Drawing on our technological know-how in designing ultra-low-power solutions, we will continue to drive ongoing innovation in the mobile graphics space,” he said.

AMD echoed the expectation.
“We are excited Samsung selected multiple generations of our leadership high-performance Radeon graphics to advance the next generation of Samsung Exynos solutions,” said David Wang, senior vice president of the Radeon Technologies group at AMD.

“The extension of our work with Samsung is a testament to our strong technology partnership and commitment to bring the best experiences possible to mobile users.”

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]