Samsung’s graphics partnership with AMD will deliver great performance and bring the power of AMD’s RDNA graphics architecture to the market along with Samsung’s powerful Exynos mobile chipset. The information now circulating is that the successor to Nintendo Switch may have one of these chips.
If Nintendo is trying to replace its switch console, it’s likely that the company will choose to develop a new hybrid handheld/household console. While the company will be able to buy chips from Nvidia, Nvidia’s minimal investment in high-quality ARM products for consumers will put them in a position where they may not be able to produce silicon that is “next-generation” sufficient for Nintendo’s next console, at least on the CPU side.
Nvidia has not updated its shield tablet line with new silicon since its Tegra K1, which includes a Kepler-based graphics chip, while its shield TV component line has not been updated with updated chips than its Maxwell-based Tegra X1, the same chip used by the switch. If Nintendo wanted to develop a next-generation switch console, Nvidia does not currently have a new SoC to sell, a factor that will force Nintendo to look for alternative suppliers. This is where AMD’s partnership with Samsung comes in.
Last week, AMD and Samsung announced their strategy to deliver “low-power, high-performance” graphics technology to the masses by merging AMD’s RDNA graphics with Samsung’s already powerful ARM SoC. Together, the two companies will deliver “innovative graphics products”, although this agreement will take years to bear fruit.
In this regard, Nintendo has Samsung and AMD as the only viable option for the successor to Nintendo Switch.