Qualcomm reportedly approaches Samsung Foundry for 2 nm smartphone AP; leaker says it could be the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 for Galaxy

Rumours from earlier last year stated Qualcomm planned to use Samsung Foundry's cutting-edge nodes for its flagship chips. However, subsequent reports tacitly confirmed it would exclusively use TSMC's N3E node for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, effectively quashing dual-sourcing rumours. A report from Etnews states that they aren't entirely false, and Qualcomm will work with Samsung for its flagship chip in 2025.

The chipmaker has supposedly asked Samsung to fabricate a smartphone AP on its 2 nm SF2 node. Samsung's roadmap states the process uses its GAA MBCFET (Gate-All-Around Multi-Bridge-Channel Field Effect Transistor) tech and will be ready for mass production in 2025. This comes a year after the Exynos 2500 supposedly hits assembly lines on the current-gen Samsung 3GAP node. Its successor, the Exynos 2600 (tentative), will also be made on the same SF2 node, the report adds.

Sources familiar with the matter told Etnews that Qualcomm has also asked TSMC to work on its 2 nm chips. TSMC's roadmap states its 2 nm GAAFET-based N2 node should be ready by 2025. However, availability may be a problem initially because of players like Apple who historically get the lion's share of its capacity on a new node. This may force Qualcomm to look at older nodes like N4P for its 2025 offerings. The 2 nm SoC in question has a chance of being pushed back to 2026 if TSMC lacks the capacity to accommodate Qualcomm.

Well-known X leaker @Tech_Reve opines the mystery chip in question is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. They add that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 for Galaxy will be made by Samsung Foundry, and the regular version will be manufactured on TSMC's N3P node. The SF2 node has supposedly been customized for Qualcomm, similar to what TSMC did for Nvidia with its 4N node for Ada Lovelace GPUs. On paper, this should give the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 for Galaxy an edge over its regular variant, potentially resulting in a Chipgate-esque situation.

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