Rumor mill: Not to be left out, Samsung is believed to be developing its own smartphone targeting gamers. A custom GPU could be one of its major selling points compared to standard flagship models.
Following in the footsteps of Razer and Asus, Samsung may be the latest smartphone maker to come out with a dedicated gaming phone. Unlike prior handsets that rely on Snapdragon processors with Adreno graphics, Samsung may have its own silicon under development for a custom GPU.
The rumored "S-GPU" is believed to be under testing but still has to outperform existing hardware before it can actually be implemented. If all goes according to plan, Samsung's custom hardware should be at least on par with Apple's own A-series chips.
Samsung already has Exynos processors that have been shipped in its phones for several years using GPU intellectual property licensed from ARM. This 2015 agreement may have delayed the development of Samsung's fully owned graphics hardware.
Even though current flagship phones are already very capable of gaming, there are further tradeoffs that can be made to allow for even better performance. Hardcore gamers are not going to turn their noses up at a slightly thicker and heavier phone if it means a big battery and proper cooling for power hungry hardware.
Many gamers may still be content with less flashy phones, but part of Samsung's overall strategy in mobile is ensuring that there is a device for every customer. Unlike other companies, Samsung routinely launches more than a dozen smartphones every year, not including the various sizes of each model. Adding in one more variant tailored to gamers is little more than standard operating procedure for the Korean giant.