Samsung may produce a superior Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 chip for its 2026 foldables

Samsung Foundry is in the business of making chips for chip designers that don't have their own manufacturing facilities. However, the 3nm process technology hasn't worked out well for the company. It didn't significantly orders from top chip designers and it reportedly couldn't even produce enough Exynos 2500 units for Samsung's own mobile division.

The company needs to become competitive again otherwise billions of dollars will flow the other way to TSMC. There may be a ray of hope as Samsung prepares to start making 2nm chips at scale. A new report claims that Qualcomm might have a specific Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 chip manufactured by Samsung Foundry.

Qualcomm hasn't had any major chips made by Samsung Foundry for three years now. It previously handled fabrication for the San Diego-based company on its 5nm and 4nm processes. Qualcomm has since shifted all of its sub-4nm manufacturing to TSMC, likely due to the widely reported yield issues. Even the Snapdragon 8 Elite which powers the entire Galaxy S25 series is fabbed at TSMC.

Samsung Foundry is reportedly coordinating plans with Qualcomm for the production of a 2nm chip which may be called the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 Gen 2. Not to be confused with what may be launched as the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2, which will be made on TSMC's latest 3nm process and may also be used for the Galaxy S26 series.

Based on the report, it doesn't appear that Samsung will handle the entire production run for this chipset. Rather, it would make the “for Galaxy” versions of the top-tier Snapdragon chipsets that Qualcomm has been offering Samsung for a couple of years. These slightly overclocked versions are used in Galaxy phones.

This suggests that this chipset would likely be used for Samsung's 2026 foldable phones, including the Galaxy Z Flip 8 and Z Fold 8. Design work on this chipset is said to finish in Q2, 2025 with wafer production slated for Q1, 2026.

Samsung will reportedly make this chip on its advanced 2nm process likely at its Hwaseong campus. It was reported just last month that Samsung's Hwaseong campus has received its first 2nm high-na EUV chipmaking machines.

If true, this would be a big vote of confidence in Samsung's 2nm process from Qualcomm, and potentially pave the way for other significant orders from top chip design firms.