Considering that the vast majority of Android smartphones are powered by processors designed by Qualcomm, it's sometimes difficult to remember that Samsung themselves not only design, but also manufacturer smartphone processors. In fact, Samsung has had a recent history of producing processors for even the biggest names such as Qualcomm. Samsung's Exynos line of processors have become very competitive these days, so much so that the Exynos 8890 that's inside of the Galaxy S7 line is used in more markets than an Exynos variant of a Galaxy S has been before, with performance similar or better to the Snapdragon 820. Now, Samsung Electronics is announcing that a new system-on-chip (which is a processor and other key components on one silicon die) built on the new 10-nanometer process has entered mass production.

We've known that Samsung was going to be one of the first in the Industry with the new 10nm FinFET process, but to see it enter mass production this early is something of a surprise. Not because Samsung isn't capable, of course, but more so because the same announcement said that a tech product launching early 2017 is to feature this very chip. It's not too hard to put two and two together to reach the conclusion that this means the Galaxy S8 will feature the new SoC Samsung is now producing. The Galaxy S8 is to launch in February of next year – that is if Samsung sticks to their current release schedule and don't advance or delay things – and it'd be the perfect product for Samsung to launch their new silicon into the world. As for the chip itself, a 27 percent boost in performance as well as a 40 percent boost in power consumption are the headlining improvements.

A smaller die size, which corresponds with the 10nm manufacturing process, will result in a less power hungry chip, as well as one that generates less heat. Which, coupled with the above improvements, will result in a new system-on-chip that is not only faster but also much kinder on battery life and probably a lot safer when we think about the Galaxy Note 7 explosions. While Samsung has yet to confirm that the upcoming Exynos 8895 is the chip that's just gone into production, it's likely that this is the case given the timings.