Samsung only recently released the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, while talk about their successor has already started surfacing. Specifically, reports from Korea claim that Samsung and Qualcomm have already started work on a new mobile chip for the Galaxy S9.

The next Qualcomm flagship platform will most likely be called Snapdragon 845 and will feature many improvements to its Snapdragon 835 predecessor, incorporated in many flagships announced this year, including the Galaxy S8.

The report mentions that either Samsung or Taiwan’s TSMC will start manufacturing the new chip, when the development stage is completed. The first phone to arrive with the Snapdragon 835 platform is the Galaxy S8, while LG was also expected to feature the chip in its latest premium G6 smartphone, but decided otherwise because of supply constraints.

Samsung is the company that produces Snapdragon 835 chips with 10-nanometer manufacturing technology. The chip has a 27% faster processing speed and is by 30% more energy efficient compared to chips operating on the 14-nanometer technology. Recent reports have stated that the upcoming chip could be built on the 7nm process.

Samsung unveiled a chip using second-gen 10nm process

The report states that high capabilities of mobile processors inside smartphones decide the device’s overall performance, as they make sure features like video calls, video recording, VR and AR features run smoothly.

Considering that Samsung is working closely with Qualcomm on the new Snapdragon 845 platform, the chip will most likely be featured on next year’s Galaxy S9 at first, while other smartphone manufacturers will have to wait to incorporate it in their premium devices.

Recently, Samsung announced a new chip using the second-generation 10-nanometer technology with 10% improvement in processing speed and 15% less energy consumption compared to the first generation. Moreover, Samsung will also manufacture its own Exynos chip to provide similar performance to the upcoming Snapdragon 845 platform.

Other recently surfaced details about the Galaxy S9 point to two variants, with 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch display sizes, just like on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+.