Samsung is teaming up with AMD to bring Radeon graphics to its smartphones

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The next generation of Samsung Galaxy devices will be powered in part by AMD, as the chipmaker signs a multi-year strategic partnership with Samsung.

This news will put AMD’s graphics technology inside chips developed by Samsung.

AMD’s latest GPU, Navi, will be inside Samsung’s future devices

Licensing graphics IP in this way was a huge part of how AMD staved off disaster four years ago. Creating custom chips for the big consoles also played a part, so AMD is no stranger to this type of partnership.

• AMD’s latest graphics IP, RDNA, will be powering future Samsung chips
• Those will likely be the Samsung-designed, ARM-based Exynos processors that power Samsung’s mobile devices outside of North America
• The RDNA IP might also end up in Smart TVs, or other devices from the South Korean company. After all, Samsung is trying to put smart screens in everything
• That RDNA IP is also powering the next-generation of PlayStation consoles, which could mean smartphones with console performance are coming
• AMD even licenses its graphics IP to rival Intel, which is then used in some of its CPUs
• RDNA will likely replace the ARM-designed Mali GPUs that Samsung currently uses in its Exynos range
• The other chip the company uses in its devices, the Qualcomm Snapdragon, also uses AMD’s graphics IP, as the Adreno tech was owned by AMD until its sale to Qualcomm in 2009

It’s a smart move for both AMD and Samsung. The gaming world is moving to game streaming, which will need powerful handsets to provide console-quality experiences while on-the-go. Galaxy Radeon, anyone?

What do you think of the news? Glad to see the two working on a multi-year strategic partnership? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.