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Samsung has already announced the Exynos 2400 chipset for the Galaxy S24 series but it has yet to divulge its full spec sheet and features. Not everything is under wraps though, as leaks have revealed a lot. While the company may not share more details until the Galaxy S24 launch in January, a recent report has given us a new piece of information about the chip. It features the more efficient FOWLP (fan-out wafer-level packaging) technology.
Exynos 2400 features Samsung’s FOWLP chip packaging technology
FOWLP is an advanced chip packaging technology that eliminates the need for a printed circuit board (PCB). In Samsung’s current chip setup, featuring the FC-BGA (Flip Chip-Ball Grid Array) packaging technology, chips are stacked by attaching them to a PCB. However, with FOWLP, chips can be mounted directly on silicon wafers without requiring a PCB. This makes the chipset thinner, effectively reducing the power consumption.
Compared to FC-BGA packaging, FOWLP is estimated to reduce the chip’s thickness by 30 percent and the overall size by 40 percent. It also brings a 15 percent boost in performance, while consuming less power. This makes the chip more efficient and helps extend the battery life of the device. TSMC is already using this chip packaging technology and Samsung is now following suit.
The Exynos 2400 won’t be the first Samsung chip to feature the FOWLP technology, though. The Korean firm’s GDDR6W memory chips launched late last year also use the same packaging technology. It subsequently established a new Advanced Packaging (AVP) team in the semiconductor division to focus on the back-end process technology for its chips. FOWLP for the Exynos 2400 may be a result of these efforts.
Samsung may be looking to close the gap to TSMC with this move. Chips manufactured by the Taiwanese firm have always performed better than competing solutions from Samsung. They are superior at everything, from power efficiency and thermals to overall performance. It remains to be seen whether the new chip packaging technology helps the Korean behemoth gain some ground.
The new Exynos chip will compete against the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
The Exynos 2400 won’t be the sole processor powering the Galaxy S24 series. Samsung is using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (overclocked version) in the Ultra model globally. The other two models will feature the new Exynos chip in some markets, including Europe, India, and South Korea. Since TSMC is manufacturing the Qualcomm chip, Samsung has a point to prove with its Exynos 2400. Who comes out on top, time will tell.