Samsung is looking forward to using Qualcomm’s newly launched Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset to power its next-generation flagship lineup, the Galaxy S25. Qualcomm makes it possible for OEMs to offer eight years of OS upgrades, which suggests the possibility that Samsung could look into it.
It has already almost been confirmed that Samsung will power the entire Galaxy S25 series with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. Not only this, but recently it has also been reported that the company has already fixed its plan to use Snapdragon for the Galaxy S26 series, which is supposed to debut in 2026.
Currently, Samsung is offering the highest seven years of long-lasting software support for its Galaxy S24 series. Recently, it promised six years of software support for its mid-range Galaxy A16 smartphone. Meanwhile, Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset brings a new possibility since it can support up to eight years of OS upgrades.
Samsung is one of the brands that are quite active regarding software support. This suggests that potentially it will take advantage of this to offer even longer software support in the future.
Noticeably, Android OS upgrade involves multiple steps: Google develops and tests the new build, then OEMs such as Samsung make their dedicated additions, and then the build is sent to the chipset designer for essential changes. The chipset designer’s cooperation is mandatory for the upgrade to be successful.
Qualcomm could charge OEMs more for long-lasting software support cycles. On the other side, the Korean tech giant is already aggressively adopting long-term software support and has been willing to pay more to make sure of seven years of Android OS upgrades for its Galaxy smartphones, including those with Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets.
This suggests that Samsung may bump up its software support to eight years of Android OS upgrades for its coming Galaxy S25 series.
