As per new leaks, Samsung might bring back Exynos for the Galaxy S26 series. The recent few years have not been very good for Exynos. The Galaxy S23 series and the S25 series are both exclusively shipped with the Snapdragon worldwide. Samsung also has an ongoing collaboration with Qualcomm to develop higher-clocked variants of chips.
The S24 series had a dual-chip strategy, with some regions getting the Exynos chips for the base S24 and the S24 Plus models. However, the best-selling Galaxy S24 Ultra got only the Snapdragon chip. Since the S25 series is Snapdragon 8 Elite, there’s no room for market share growth of Exynos.
It’s worth noting that the Exynos 2400 and Exynos 2400e are both well-performing chipsets with very good efficiency. The major problems lie in Samsung’s yield rates. Since they cannot reach the estimated numbers, they’re forced to use Snapdragon until their foundries match the desired yield rates.
According to Jukanlosreve on X, Samsung will bring Exynos back for the Galaxy S26 series. It’s unlikely to expect the Ultra model to get Exynos, since Samsung has been using Snapdragon for the Ultra model for a while now. However, some regions will feature the Exynos 2600 SOC for the base and Plus models, a similar strategy to the Galaxy S24 lineup. As for the fate of the Exynos 2500, Samsung might use it in future FE models or some foldable phones. They couldn’t use it for the S25 since the yield rates were low, as previously mentioned.
The Exynos 2600 will have cutting-edge 2nm fabrication from Samsung. If true, this is major news since 2nm will improve efficiency by 15-25%, which will translate to massive improvements in battery life. The major problem with the 8 Elite chip is battery life, especially on the smaller model. If Samsung addresses this, they might get a more positive reception for Exynos.
However, the leaker also states that the volume of the chipset is limited. We’re yet to get information on thermal control, so we’ll have to wait for real-world tests to determine whether the Exynos 2600 is good. This is good news for Samsung’s Exynos market share in the end. It will grow once more models start using the chips.
