The race to 2nm chips is heating up, and Samsung seems ready to take another swing at TSMC’s dominance. According to a new report from South Korea’s New Daily, Samsung Foundry has shipped test samples of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 built on its latest 2nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) process.

Samsung has reportedly been offering aggressive pricing to win Qualcomm back, potentially setting the stage for a new foundry price war.

Qualcomm explores dual sourcing once again

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 was officially unveiled at the Snapdragon Summit in late September 2025 and has already entered mass production at TSMC. But Qualcomm’s decision to test Samsung’s 2nm process looks like a strategic move to diversify its supply chain and reduce dependency on a single foundry.

Over the next few months, Qualcomm engineers will test Samsung’s samples for yield consistency, thermal management, and long-term reliability. If the results hold up, production could begin in time for future flagships like the Galaxy Z Flip 8 in 2026.

This is not Samsung’s first attempt at making Qualcomm chips. The company’s previous outings with the Snapdragon 888 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 were marred by yield and thermal issues, which ultimately pushed Qualcomm to switch back to TSMC. Since then, however, Samsung appears to have stabilized its process technology. The South Korean giant was confident enough to equip its foldables with an Exynos chip for the first time this year, powering the Galaxy Z Flip7 with the Exynos 2500 — and so far, the device hasn’t shown any major performance issues.

With wafer costs at TSMC’s advanced nodes climbing by as much as 24% year over year, Samsung’s lower pricing could make it an attractive alternative.

If Qualcomm does greenlight the partnership, the first 2nm Snapdragon chip could debut in Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip8 by mid-2026. For those wondering, the Exynos 2600 is expected to power the Galaxy S26 series in most markets, provided it enters mass production before January 2026.

A healthy rivalry between Samsung and TSMC could benefit consumers too, helping keep chip prices in check while accelerating efficiency improvements for upcoming flagship devices.

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