Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Expected to Power 75 Percent of Samsung Galaxy S26 Series: Report

Samsung is likely to launch the Galaxy S26 series early next year, and leaks suggest a return to its dual-chip strategy. The lineup is expected to comprise the Samsung Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26+ and Galaxy S26 Ultra, and it is expected to be powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 SoC or Samsung's in-house Exynos 2600 chip. However, recent comments from Qualcomm executives indicate that the Exynos 2600 will only be used in select models, while the majority of the lineup will feature Qualcomm's latest flagship chipset. 

Qualcomm Expects Snapdragon Chip to Power Majority of Samsung Galaxy S26 Series

Investing.com reports that during the chipmaker's Q4 earnings call, Qualcomm President and CEO Cristiano Amon shared details about the firm's role in Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S26 series. The executive reportedly stated that Qualcomm expects to power around 75 percent of Galaxy devices in the coming year, consistent with previous years.

Amon reportedly indicated that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 will remain the dominant chipset in Samsung's next flagship series. The publication quotes Amon as saying:

We have said for a number of years, a number of reasons, and this has been true in the past, I think, for several years, that what used to be a normal relationship at a 50% share, the new baseline is about 75 percent share. [...] When we out-execute, sometimes we get more than 75 percent. On Galaxy S25, we got 100 percent. Our assumption for any new Galaxy is always going to be 75 percent. That is our assumption for Galaxy S26.

The latest statement from Qualcomm indicates that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 might get an advantage over Samsung's in-house Exynos 2600, leaving only a 25 percent share for the Exynos chip.

Previous reports indicated that the Galaxy S26 trio will adopt a split-chip strategy, with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 powering models in regions like the US, Japan, and China. Meanwhile, the Exynos 2600 chipset is expected to be used in select markets such as South Korea and Europe. This could mark a shift from the current Galaxy S25 lineup, which runs on the Snapdragon 8 Elite across all global markets.

The Exynos 2600 recently surfaced on Geekbench with model number S5E9965, with a single-core score of 3,047 and a multi-core score of 10,025. The benchmark listing disclosed a 6+3+1 CPU architecture, with six efficiency cores running at 2.46GHz, three performance cores at 2.96GHz, and a prime core clocked at 3.55GHz. For comparison, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 got 3,675 single-core and 11,096 multi-core scores on Geekbench.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Series: What We Know So Far

Samsung is speculated to hold its Galaxy Unpacked event in San Francisco on February 25, 2026, to announce the Galaxy S26 family. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is tipped to sport a 6.9-inch display, a 5,400mAh battery and a quad rear camera setup, including a 200-megapixel primary shooter.

The Galaxy S26 could feature a 6.3-inch display and a 4,300mAh battery. The Galaxy S26+ model is said to get a 6.7-inch screen and a slightly larger 4,900mAh battery. Both devices are said to pack triple rear camera units, headlined by a 50-megapixel main sensor.