The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 could be a tale of two foundries, TSMC and Samsung

Qualcomm is expected to follow up on the successful Snapdragon 8 Elite flagship SoC with a new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 SoC later in the year. Leaks suggest the SoC could be built by TSMC on its 3nm N3P process, which is a more advanced 3nm process than the 8 Elite’s N3E process. However, it seems that not all Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 SoCs will be built by TSMC, as Samsung Foundry is now said to be in the race for at least one variant of the flagship SoC.

According to a report from South Korea’s SE Daily (via Jukanlosreve on X) citing industry sources, Samsung Foundry is said to be coordinating plans with Qualcomm to produce a 2nm chip by the end of the year, likely under the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 banner/generation of SoCs. However, Samsung Foundry will produce it on a more advanced 2nm process, while TSMC will produce the same on a 3nm process. The report doesn’t mention the reason for this, but it’s likely because Samsung Foundry’s 2nm process will still be behind TSMC’s 3nm process when it comes to fruition.