Qualcomm May Use Samsung Foundry to Produce Different Variants of Snapdragon Elite 2 SoC for Galaxy S26 Series

Samsung's collaboration with Qualcomm may take a significant step forward, as it now appears that the Korean electronics giant will not only receive a special version of its “for Galaxy” processors but also be allowed to produce them using its foundry. Qualcomm is reportedly developing both a basic and a premium version of its Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 processor. While previous and current versions of Qualcomm chips with Samsung's (for Galaxy) branding arrived with just a higher clock speed compared to the standard chip, Samsung is now gearing up to take things up a notch by using its own 2nm node.

According to Jukan Choi, Qualcomm is currently said to be developing its future top-end chipset, tagged as the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2, under the project name ‘Kaanapali'. Given the brand's attachment to Hawaii, Kaanapali (written as Kāʻanapali) is a resort community in Hawaii, but the word in Hawaiian also stands for “the divided hill”. And this is where things get interesting.

According to the source, Qualcomm will produce two versions of its top-end chipset this year – a basic version and a special version tagged as ‘Kaanapali S'. The basic version, according to the rather lengthy and informative post, will be a standard chip with standard upgrades. For now, it has been planned to be manufactured using TSMC's 3nm process, just like things currently are.

There will also be a second special variant, which will be produced for Samsung's Galaxy devices in particular. However, unlike the past “for Galaxy” variations, which included a speed bump, Samsung will reportedly produce this chipset using its foundry. More importantly, this chipset will switch gears to Samsung Electronic Foundry's 2nm process.

The source claims that this special or ‘S' version of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 will be used in Samsung's Galaxy S26 models to be launched next year. Samsung's current Galaxy S25 models in all markets only use Qualcomm's SM8750-AB or Snapdragon 8 Elite (3nm) SoC with a higher-than-usual clock speed of 4.47GHz versus the standard 4.32GHz.

Indeed, by switching to an advanced process, Samsung could offer better performance along with other benefits for its customers with deeper integration with its One UI software. The post also highlights how Samsung is also working on another project called ‘Trailblazer' with Qualcomm; however, these chipsets will not be used for mobile. The source claims that many customers may be considering Samsung's Electronics 2nm process because of TSMC's rising prices.