Samsung announces Exynos 8890 SoC, successor to Exynos 7420, with a category 12/13 modem and custom CPU architecture
Samsung Announces Exynos 8890 with Cat.12/13 Modem and Custom CPU — In an unexpected surprise annoucement, Samsung today revealed its new generation flagship SoC - the Exynos 8.
Context & Ripple Effects
Samsung is moving its flagship silicon from the [[entity/exynos-7420|Exynos 7420]] generation to the Exynos 8890, and the headline change is architectural: a custom CPU core designed in-house rather than off-the-shelf ARM designs, paired with a Category 12/13 LTE modem built into the same chip.
The announcement sets the template the Exynos line then follows without interruption — the 10nm Exynos 8895 with a 1 Gbps modem two years later, the 7nm Exynos 990 with 5G, the 5nm Exynos 2100 — each generation tightening Samsung's grip on both the process node and the integrated modem.
First-order effects
- Samsung's next flagship phones gain carrier-grade Cat.12/13 download speeds straight from the SoC, no discrete modem required.
- By designing its own CPU cores, Samsung stops depending solely on ARM's stock core roadmap for flagship performance differentiation.
Second-order effects
- Integrating a faster modem into the SoC pressures Samsung to keep pace on process nodes every year — 14nm here leads directly to the 10nm, 7nm, and 5nm generations announced afterward.
- Custom-core silicon raises the engineering bar for any rival flagship chip that still relies on licensed ARM cores alone.
Third-order effects
- If the cadence holds, Samsung consolidates around fully vertically integrated flagships — its own fab, its own CPU design, its own modem — making the Exynos line a structural moat rather than a component.
- In-house modem-plus-CPU integration points toward Samsung controlling the whole connectivity stack, a position it extends once 5G modems arrive in the Exynos 990 and 1080.
The trend: Flagship mobile silicon is consolidating around vertically integrated designs — custom CPUs, integrated modems, and leading-edge nodes — with Samsung's annual Exynos cadence as a running case study.