The Exynos 2600-equipped Galaxy S26 series might be heading to Europe

Since 2023's Galaxy S23 series, Samsung has launched its Galaxy S series with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor in all markets. However, it might be returning to its previous tradition of using its own Exynos processor in select markets starting with next year's Galaxy S26 series.

According to a post on X by Jukanlosreve (@Jukanlosreve), Samsung is moving forward with its decision to power the Galaxy S26 series with the Exynos 2600. However, due to the low yield, the chipset 'is likely to be equipped mainly in European models.'

While the source cites the low yield as the reason for the chipset being used in select markets, it is unlikely Samsung would use the Exynos 2600 in all regions even if the yield were higher. Prior to the Galaxy S23, markets such as the United States and China have received Snapdragon-powered variants of Samsung flagships.

In addition to the low yield, the source also revealed that the Exynos 2600 doesn't measure up to Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset in terms of performance. In his words, Qualcomm's Snapdragon shows a 'clear' performance advantage over Exynos.

Despite this performance difference, which has always been a thing between Exynos and Snapdragon variants of the same phone, Samsung will likely not ditch the Exynos 2600 considering the source said Samsung's System LSI subsidiary which designs and develops processors, incurred a loss of about $400 million when Samsung dropped the Exynos 2500 for the Snapdragon 8 Elite in the Galaxy S25 series (available on Amazon for $777.99).

The Exynos 2600 is reported to be built on Samsung's 2nm node using Gate-All-Around technology. While yield is reportedly still low, it is said to have increased to more than 40% this year. Hopefully, it can reach the targeted yield of between 70% to 80% required for mass production later this year.