Samsung Electronics has decided to discontinue the development of Exynos processors for automotive systems. The company entered this market in 2018, but the business unit failed to achieve profitability despite securing contracts with Hyundai Motor in 2023 and BMW Group in 2025.
The automotive chip sector requires expensive safety certifications, with development costs for a single model reaching $75 million. Given that individual chips sell for $20 to $40, profitability is only possible with sales volumes in the millions, a threshold Samsung could not reach while competing with Qualcomm.
Samsung will continue to fulfill existing obligations to its automotive partners, though it will cease new development in this segment. The company will maintain its supply of memory chips to the automotive industry, which remains a separate and profitable business area for the corporation.
The restructuring of the Samsung LSI division aims to achieve profitability by next year. Future efforts will focus on Exynos processors for smartphones, image sensors for robotics and security systems, and power electronics for data centers to address rising energy consumption.
