Ex-Samsung employee says all Galaxy S22 models will ship with a Snapdragon chip globally

Update: GalaxyClub.nl seems to agree that Samsung is seemingly on track to release Snapdragon-powered Galaxies in way more markets than it usually does, but the Exynos version reportedly still exists.

Update #2: IceUniverse tweeted that Galaxy S22 phones with Exynos 2200 on board are still destined to hit the shelves in “some countries and regions”.

We've been barraged with troves of leaks, rumors, and news regarding the highly anticipated Galaxy S22 lineup that's due out early next year. Just a couple of days ago, we saw the S Pen-toting Galaxy S22 Ultra in the flesh, but the latest bombshell rumor is surpassing even that.

According to Dutch publication LetsGoDigital, which relays information passed on by ex-Samsung employee turned whistleblower Super Roader, Samsung might be planning to equip all Galaxy S22 devices around the globe with the upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon 898 chipset and completely skip using its own Exynos chips in the upcoming Galaxy S22 series.

The name Super Roader certainly rings a bell, especially if you've been following Galaxy S22 leaks closely. Just a few days ago, this former Samsung employee tipped some key design differences between the more affordable Galaxy S21 and S21+ in contrast to the Galaxy S22 Ultra, which seem to be corroborated by the S22 Ultra leak from a few days ago.

This will be a “first” for Samsung, which usually favors its own Exynos chipsets in most regions across the globe, but relies on Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipsets in the US and a few other key markets. The Galaxy S21 series, for example, comes with the Snapdragon 888 chip in the United States, Canada, China, Japan, but utilizes the Exynos 2100 chipset elsewhere. The upcoming Snapdragon 898 announcement has been scheduled for November 30, so we are just weeks from getting the full scoop on Qualcomm's next flagship chipset.

The reason for this unexpected rumored change is cited as the ongoing chip scarcity that was kick-started by the COVID-pandemic and is affecting all branches of the industry. According to Super Roader, manufacturing the Exynos 2200 chipset has proven to be quite challenging for Samsung. In fact, the leaker says there simply wouldn't be enough chips manufactured in time for the Galaxy S22's release. These dire production hurdles are also likely the key reason behind the Galaxy S21 FE's untimely delay.

Probably one of the key reasons behind the Exynos 2200's alleged manufacturing roadblocks is the ambitious and intriguing GPU package. Samsung's next chipset is expected to come with a 6-core AMD RDNA2 GPU with ray-tracing technology, a “first” on mobile, and as such has garnered tons of attention fueled by promising leaked benchmarks.

Another intriguing insight given by Super Roader gives us a sneak peek at the probable announcement date for the Galaxy S22 series — February 8. This rumor coincides with information previously propelled by FrontPageTech's Jon Prosser, which expects a Galaxy Unpacked event to be scheduled for early February. What's more, a global rollout on February 18 is also tipped off by Super Roader, which definitely sounds plausible and coincides with Samsung's usual flagship smartphone releases. Apart from 2021, most previous Galaxy launches have taken place in February.

While Samsung skipping its Exynos chipset for a complete Qualcomm takeover sounds quite implausible, the leaker gives some rather compelling reasons for the probable major change. It would be quite interesting to see what some other industry leakers and insiders will have to share on the matter. Interestingly, we've previously heard that the Exynos 2200-powered Galaxy S22 models could even be considered by Verizon. The largest mobile carrier in the US has reportedly expressed interest to sell the non-Snapdragon version of the upcoming phones for the first time.

As we know more, so will you.