- Samsung could reportedly fabricate one variant of the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 for Qualcomm.
- While the normal chip would be made with a 3nm TSMC process, Samsung’s could be a 2nm chip.
- This 2nm Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 may debut with the Galaxy S26.
There’s arguably no single component that more influences how a smartphone comes together than the choice of its system-on-a-chip (SoC). And while a phone is a whole lot more than just how fast it can crunch numbers, the decision around which SoC to use influences everything from the screens and cameras a handset can support, to how power-efficient the phone will be. Right now, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips dominate popular Android hardware, with the Snapdragon 8 Elite powering many of this year’s best phones. But if this latest report we’re hearing turns out to be accurate, the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 could shake up the SoC industry in some surprising ways.
Qualcomm designs its Snapdragon chips, but when it comes to actually manufacturing them, it has historically relied upon fabrication partners like TSMC and Samsung. But in recent years, its highest-end flagship chips have exclusively been produced by TSMC. That’s included the Snapdragon 8 Elite, built on TSMC’s 3nm process.