Samsung Electronics says its has begun mass production of Exynos i T200, its first processor optimized for Internet of Things devices
Samsung Electronics has begun production for its first Internet of Things-optimised Exynos processor. — Samsung Electronics has launched the Exynos i T200 …
Context & Ripple Effects
By mid-2017 Samsung's Exynos line was defined by smartphone flagships — the Exynos 9 8895 had just brought a 10nm node and a 1 Gbps integrated LTE modem to Galaxy-class devices. The Exynos i T200 marks the first time Samsung points that silicon franchise at a different market: connected devices rather than phones.
The move also fits Samsung's broader position in the chip business — it both designs Exynos and manufactures rivals' silicon, including the deal to produce Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820. An IoT-optimized part gives Samsung another product to route through its own fabs.
First-order effects
- Device makers building connected products gain a Samsung-branded processor option purpose-built for IoT workloads, extending the Exynos name beyond smartphones for the first time.
Second-order effects
- Samsung's own foundry arm now has an in-house IoT design to fill capacity alongside external customers like Qualcomm, tightening the loop between its design and manufacturing businesses.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, Exynos splits into distinct tracks — flagship phone SoCs chasing leading-edge nodes (the path later visible in the Exynos 2100 on 5nm) and lower-power parts aimed at always-on connected devices — mirroring the industry split between mobile performance chips and edge/sensor silicon.
The trend: Chipmakers are carving dedicated low-power silicon lines for IoT devices out of their smartphone SoC franchises, pushing compute toward sensors and endpoints.