Samsung to Have Snapdragon 820 Exclusivity Until April

As we all know, Qualcomm is ready to start off the new year with its new and powerful Snapdragon 820 chipset. And it has also been rumoured that many of 2016’s flagship devices will sport the new chipset. However, word around the rumour mill is that Samsung is planning to keep the chipset to itself for the first three months.

Here’s why that is. As you may also know that Samsung is planning to unveil its next flagship Galaxy S7 devices. These devices will come in two versions. One will sport Qualcomm’s newest chipset while the other will feature the Exynos 8890 chipset. And Samsung wants exclusive rights to the Snapdragon 820, at least initially. The company wants to show off the new SoC with the Galaxy S7 before anyone else gets there.

So what does this mean for other companies like Xiaomi which is ready to launch the Mi 5 flagship smartphone with the Snapdragon 820 chipset? The Chinese company had already delayed the launch that was initially supposed to take place in December due to the launch of the Snapdragon 820 chipset. Now, if rumours are true and Samsung does indeed hold exclusive rights to the next-gen SoC until April, then this would mean that other flagship devices like the Mi 5 and LG G5 won’t see a launch in the first quarter.

Samsung’s next flagship smartphone has been rumoured to come with a pressure sensitive screen (like Apple’s 3D Touch), a retina scanner, a USB Type-C port, and an improved camera, among other things.