It seems that Samsung is ready to stop playing it safe regarding core hardware. After years of relying on external blueprints, new reports suggest the tech giant is developing its own custom CPU and GPU architectures with a view to implementing them on the Exynos 2800 flagship chip in 2027. The goal here is clear: total hardware autonomy, cutting the cord with ARM and AMD.

Samsung to drop ARM’s vanilla CPU cores in favor of in-house architecture

This isn’t the first time Samsung has tried to build its own brain for its smartphones. Between 2016 and 2020, the company bet big on its “Mongoose” CPU cores. The project was ambitious, but the results were underwhelming. Mongoose cores gained a reputation for running hot and draining batteries faster than their competitors. These efficiency struggles eventually forced Samsung to shut down its Austin-based design team and return to “vanilla” ARM cores. It was a humbling retreat that led many to believe Samsung’s days as a chip architect were over.

But the industry landscape has changed, and Samsung’s ambitions have only grown. According to a report from tech tipster Smart Chip Guide on Weibo , the Exynos 2800 plans to re-adopt in-house CPU designs. Samsung seems convinced that to truly compete with Apple’s silicon dominance, it can no longer rely on the same off-the-shelf designs used by every other Android manufacturer.

In-house GPU also in development

Samsung’s need for control goes beyond the CPU. By 2027, Samsung is also said to be getting rid of AMD’s RDNA graphics architecture in favor of its own custom GPU . The partnership with AMD helped with marketing, but having their own GPU would let Samsung improve graphics performance just for Galaxy devices. This would let them fully optimize the hardware for AI and gaming without any outside limits.

It looks like Samsung is going after the ultimate tech “holy grail”: vertical integration. Samsung may be able to get a performance edge that rivals can’t match by taking control of the hardware from the ground up. This could lead to deeper software optimization. This is a risky move, especially since Mongoose has a history of problems, but Samsung has the money to try it. The development suggests that the company is sick of being just another chip market customer and wants to be a main character.