There are already concerns that the Galaxy S25 series could see a price hike in some markets. This would largely be due to Qualcomm charging more for the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset that's going to be widely used for the new series.
If Exynos doesn't make its return to the fold in any meaningful way by 2026, Samsung may be out of options to prevent a significant price jump for the Galaxy S26 series. The only way out is to ensure that Exynos is up to the mark by then.
Galaxy S26 needs Exynos to avoid a big price increase
While semiconductor pricing remains an industry secret, some analysts believe that Qualcomm charges up to $190 for one Snapdragon 8 Elite chip right now. It may charge even more than that if TSMC hikes up its prices. Qualcomm designs the chips but it needs to get them made from a fab.
TSMC is its biggest fab partner, solely responsible for producing the current flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. New reports claim that TSMC will increase prices for its 5nm and 3nm process by up to 10% in 2025 due to strong demand backed by AI. The Snapdragon 8 Elite is made on TSMC's 3nm N3E node while the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 may be made on the third-gen 3nm N3P node.
If it costs Qualcomm more to get those chips made then it's going to charge its customers like Samsung more and that would ostensibly lead to higher device prices for the public. Since the Galaxy S is a flagship lineup and there's no much else Samsung can cut there to improve margins, its only option is to ensure that Exynos is once again a big part of the chipset mix.
Samsung is reportedly working on the Exynos 2600 that would feature on the Galaxy S26 series. Crucially, it would be made on Samsung's 2nm process, which should provide generational improvements over TSMC's third-gen 3nm N3P node.
Samsung Foundry is already focusing on improving its competitiveness on the 2nm process and hopes to ensure that it doesn't face all of the issues that it has had to put up with on the 3nm node.
