Samsung appears poised to overshadow TSMC’s leading position in the global contract chipmaker industry next year by producing 2nm chips for Qualcomm.
For so long, the Korean tech giant has been working on its next-generation in-house Exynos 2600 chipset, based on a 2nm process, which is highly anticipated to be initially used in the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus devices.
A new report from Yonhap News Agency revealed that, according to Counterpoint Research, Samsung Foundry plans to increase its 2nm chip production next year, as it is considering shipping the Exynos 2600, which is a 2nm chip, by the end of this year.
A few weeks ago, it was reported that Samsung had already won a contract to supply 2nm cryptomining Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chips for MicroBT, a Chinese firm. According to a new report, Samsung Foundry will start shipping the Snapdragon 8s Elite Gen 5 sometime in the first half of 2026.
The Snapdragon 8s Elite Gen 5 is expected to be a slightly overclocked or slightly better-performing version of the currently launched Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset. If the report is to be believed, Samsung could use this chipset initially for the Galaxy Z Flip 8.
Coming to the second half of 2026, Samsung Foundry is reportedly set to start shipping another cryptomining ASIC chip for Canaan. While in the second half of 2026 or the first half of 2027, the company would introduce the 2nm AI6 chip to Tesla. However, Samsung has yet to release any official statement regarding this long-term strategy; it will be interesting to see whether this leaked plan will come into existence.
