Samsung is certainly not taking the upcoming release of the Galaxy S8 lightly – and it wants to make sure its new phone runs on the latest and greatest tech available out there.
Forbes reports the company has claimed so many of Qualcomm’s upgraded Snapdragon 835 processors for its new flagship phone that the rest of the industry has had to resort to the older Snapdragon 821 for their handsets – or alternatively opt for drastic launch delays.
Citing undisclosed insiders, the publication claims this explains why HTC has decided to rely on the Snapdragon 821 for its new U Ultra flagship. Perhaps more intriguing are Forbes’ claims that LG will be similarly forced to power its forthcoming G6 handset with Qualcomm’s older chip.
With Samsung calling first dibs on the revamped processor, the source remarked that, “[t]he Snapdragon 835 won’t be available in large quantities until after the Galaxy S8 launches.”
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The privilege to claim the first batch of the new processors is hardly surprising given that Qualcomm announced plans to build the Snapdragon 835 in close collaboration with the Big S.
Contrary to previous reports, yesterday the South Korean phone-maker revealed the S8 won’t make its debut till after Mobile World Congress in February. Backing up more recent rumors suggesting a delayed launch in April, the same source told Forbes the S8 will likely drop around April 14 in South Korea.
In all fairness, it isn’t all Samsung’s fault.
Manufacturers often avoid immediately relying on the latest tech available. In fact, a few years back Samsung and LG both chose to equip their Galaxy S and LG4 phones with the Snapdragon 808 over the then newer 810 variant due to overheating concerns.
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