According to dt.co.kr, LG Electronics has not given up on SoCs and is working to develop a new octa-core. The chip is said to feature four Cortex-A72 cores and four Cortex-A53 cores in a big.LITTLE configuration, possibly with Mali graphics.

The chip would be a far cry from the company’s NUCLUN processor, which was limited to a single device, sold exclusively in the Korean market. The new LG SoC is said to be a 20nm part, slated for launch in late 2015 or, more likely, early 2016.

We cannot confirm or deny the reports, although the timing and the purported use of TSMC’s 20nm node do not make a whole lot of sense. By 2016, the new LG chip would face stiff competition from FinFET SoCs, but the 20nm node is not dead yet.

For example, MediaTek is not planning to shift to 16/14nm this year, and it will launch the first 20nm part toward the end of the year – until then, it's all 28nm. Apple is still on 20nm with the A8 and may transition to 14nm with its next generation chip. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 is another 20nm part and we don’t expect it to be replaced by a flagship FinFET chip this year.

Samsung, of course, is a different story.