Samsung Foundry’s major win, will manufacture Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 for Galaxy phones
It’s finally happening: after a very tough 2024 Samsung Foundry is potentially about to get its big break. A report (translated source) states that Samsung is in talks with Qualcomm to manufacture the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 chipset. It seems that both companies have already agreed to the collaboration and are now discussing the finer details.
This isn’t the first time that Samsung will manufacture chips for Qualcomm. However it’s been a few years since the latter has done business with Samsung and this could be a major boost to Samsung Foundry’s reputation. If this deal is successful then it is almost guaranteed that Samsung will receive further orders from other major companies in the future as well.
The arrangement being discussed ordains that TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) will produce the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 using a 3 nm manufacturing process. Samsung, on the other hand, will be using a 2 nm process to produce the chipset. While TSMC’s chipsets will likely be released this year, Samsung will manufacture the chipsets later for its own phones coming out next year.
Qualcomm initially pulled away from Samsung Foundry due to its productivity issues. These problems have haunted the foundry since then and 2024 was a particularly tough year where it almost felt like that the foundry was about to shut down. But Samsung recently stabilized its 3 nm process and immediately began to work on 2 nm chip production as well.
The reason behind the different processes being used by TSMC and Samsung may have something to do with the rumors that the latter’s production still isn’t perfect. Some reports have claimed that Samsung’s 2 nm process is barely as efficient as TSMC’s 3 nm process. It ultimately doesn’t matter much because modern chip measurements are a marketing tactic more than anything else.
Samsung ultimately wants to shift all of its devices to its in-house Exynos chipsets. While many tech enthusiasts are opposed to this due to the stigma attached to Exynos chips, I am strongly in favor of this move. I’m holding out hope that Samsung will one day have its Apple silicon moment and revolutionize its products.
The arrangement being discussed ordains that TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) will produce the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 using a 3 nm manufacturing process. Samsung, on the other hand, will be using a 2 nm process to produce the chipset. While TSMC’s chipsets will likely be released this year, Samsung will manufacture the chipsets later for its own phones coming out next year.
This also means that at least some of the Galaxy phones releasing in 2026 will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 instead of Exynos chipsets.
The entire Galaxy S25 line uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite. | Video credit — Samsung
Qualcomm initially pulled away from Samsung Foundry due to its productivity issues. These problems have haunted the foundry since then and 2024 was a particularly tough year where it almost felt like that the foundry was about to shut down. But Samsung recently stabilized its 3 nm process and immediately began to work on 2 nm chip production as well.
The reason behind the different processes being used by TSMC and Samsung may have something to do with the rumors that the latter’s production still isn’t perfect. Some reports have claimed that Samsung’s 2 nm process is barely as efficient as TSMC’s 3 nm process. It ultimately doesn’t matter much because modern chip measurements are a marketing tactic more than anything else.
Samsung ultimately wants to shift all of its devices to its in-house Exynos chipsets. While many tech enthusiasts are opposed to this due to the stigma attached to Exynos chips, I am strongly in favor of this move. I’m holding out hope that Samsung will one day have its Apple silicon moment and revolutionize its products.
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