Recently, Samsung officially confirmed its upcoming flagship chip, the Exynos 2600. It will be the first mobile processor built on the company’s cutting-edge 2nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) manufacturing process. However, it seems that the firm is encountering a complicated market reality. According to a recent report, the Samsung Galaxy S26 and S26+ models featuring the new Exynos 2600 chip will be exclusive to South Korea. Meanwhile, the rest of the world could rely on the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
Samsung may reserve the Exynos 2600-powered Galaxy S26 exclusively for Korea
According to analysis from research firm CTT Research, the potentially restricted rollout stems from a legacy of technical issues that have long plagued the Exynos lineup. Historically, these chips have struggled with some core problems compared to their Snapdragon rivals. The list includes poor thermal efficiency (overheating), low production yield, and security vulnerabilities in the core design. These shortcomings have historically led consumers and network carriers to prefer the stability and performance consistency of the Qualcomm solution. As a result, there’s a negative perception of the “Exynos” brand among a large part of the public.
Samsung is actively working to address these issues. For the new Exynos 2600 chip, the South Korean giant has introduced a new technology called a “Heat Pass Block.” The latter aims to act as a heat sink that reportedly reduces the chip’s operating temperature by up to 30%. Furthermore, Samsung Foundry has claimed a significant improvement in manufacturing, with the 2nm GAA process yield reportedly reaching 50%, a notable jump from previous generations.
Why Samsung’s chip may not power the global variants
However, despite these improvements, the final decision on the chip’s distribution reportedly depends less on engineering and more on business contracts. Industry sources suggest that Samsung has a long-term agreement with Qualcomm. This deal reportedly mandates that at least 75% of all Galaxy S series smartphones must use the Snapdragon chipset. This matches Qualcomm’s own claims about Snapdragon chips occupying up to 75% of Galaxy S26 units.
This contractual wall severely limits Samsung’s ability to widely adopt its own Exynos 2600. Even if the new chip performs flawlessly and production yields increase further, any attempt by Samsung to exceed the 25% allocation for its in-house chip would trigger a massive financial penalty from Qualcomm.
Basically, the public perception of Exynos chips and contractual obligations combine to severely limit the global expansion of the Exynos 2600. It could all result in the chip powering only Galaxy S26 devices in South Korea. Meanwhile, the majority of buyers worldwide could get the Qualcomm-powered variant.
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