Samsung is going all out in attempt to have the Exynos 2600 AP ready for the Galaxy S26 line
Let's face it. Samsung Foundry's advanced chip production has been such a mess with yields for the Exynos 2500 so low that production of the the application processor (AP) had to be delayed while Samsung Foundry worked to improve its yield on 3nm chip production. As a result, Samsung Foundry could not make enough Deca-core Exynos 2500 APs needed for the Galaxy S25 series. The Exynos 2500 is reportedly going to debut with the Galaxy Z Flip 7 this summer.
Had enough Exynos 2500 chips been available in time, they would have been used to power the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ in all markets except for the U.S., China, and Canada. In those markets, Samsung would have replaced the Exynos 2500 SoC with the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, the same chipset found in all Galaxy S25 Ultra units throughout the world. Samsung Foundry's inability to improve the yield on the Exynos 2500 led Samsung to equip every Galaxy S25 model in every market with the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy AP.
Next year, Samsung is planning on powering the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+ with the Exynos 2600 AP. Using its own chips saves Samsung some money although in the U.S., China, and Canada those models will feature the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 for Galaxy; the latter chipset will power all Galaxy S26 Ultra models.
Samsung Foundry is working to improve its yield on 2nm production which reached 30% in early tests. | Image credit-Unknown
The buzz around the water cooler is that Samsung has put together a task force given the assignment to optimize not just the performance of the Exynos 2600, but to optimize the production of the chipset as well. The Exynos 2600 SoC is expected to be built on Samsung Foundry's first-generation 2nm process node (SF2). Despite the extra complexity involved in manufacturing advanced integrated circuits using a brand-new process node, insiders say that Samsung Foundry has improved the yield which is very important to the company.
These chips are built on a silicon wafer and each wafer has the potential to produce hundreds of chips. But not each one will pass quality control. The percentage of chips that pass divided by the maximum number of chips that one silicon wafer could produce gives us the yield. Foundries want to see the yield rise to the 60% to 70% range before starting mass production. Last month, Samsung Foundry's yield on 2nm chip production was 30% in initial tests which indicates that Sammy still has some work to do.
Samsung hopes to start manufacturing the Exynos 2600 by May although the big decision about whether the AP will be used on the Galaxy S26 line won't be made until we are closer to the end of the year. An insider told FNNews that Samsung Foundry's yields are stabilizing and that inside the Foundry business unit there is a "sense of urgency" as some believe that the future of the Exynos chip program depends on the flawless development and production of the Exynos 2600.
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