Qualcomm (QCOM.US) may use Samsung’s 2nm process for future Snapdragon flagship chips, which could divert orders from TSMC (TSM.US).

According to Jinse Finance APP, Qualcomm (QCOM.US) has just released the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chipsets based on the 2nm manufacturing process. There were previous rumors that Qualcomm would use Samsung Foundry to produce some of its high-end chips, but the new chipsets are not made by Samsung Foundry. Now, reports indicate that the chip manufacturer has revealed it is cooperating with Samsung Foundry on future Snapdragon mobile platforms—which means some of Qualcomm's upcoming flagship chipsets may be manufactured using Samsung's advanced 2nm process technology.

Qualcomm is evaluating Samsung's 2nm process

Reportedly, at a briefing during the Snapdragon Summit 2026, Chris Patrick, Senior Vice President and Head of Mobile Business at Qualcomm, spoke about the company's relationship with Samsung Electronics. The executive reportedly confirmed: "Qualcomm is engaging in comprehensive technical cooperation with Samsung Electronics."

Patrick stated that Qualcomm is conducting an in-depth analysis of Samsung's 2nm process technology to determine how it can be applied to future products. "Samsung Foundry has been a core long-term partner for Qualcomm and will continue to be an important partner in the future," he added.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm is also reportedly working with Samsung Electronics' Memory Business Unit to prepare for the commercialization of next-generation mobile DRAM—LPDDR6.

Qualcomm has not yet confirmed which specific chipsets will be produced using Samsung's process, nor when such products might enter mass production. Currently, Qualcomm is also collaborating with TSMC (TSM.US), but the latest reports indicate that Samsung Foundry may still remain an important manufacturing partner for the chipmaker.

Qualcomm and Samsung are already collaborating in the field of wearables and smart glasses. Samsung's latest smartwatches are equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear Elite platform.

At last week's Snapdragon Summit, Qualcomm released the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. Both chips are built on the 2nm process, equipped with Adreno GPU and Hexagon NPU, using Qualcomm's proprietary Oryon CPU architecture, and reaching peak clock speeds of up to 5GHz. Xiaomi has launched the Xiaomi 18 Pro powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6; the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max runs on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chipset.