Despite the substantial strides taken by Samsung LSI in designing a thermally stable Exynos 2600 chip and an even better Exynos 2700, courtesy of the all-new Side-by-Side (SbS) packaging and the Heat Path Block (HBP) heat sink, Samsung Mobile appears to be doubling down on its dual-chip strategy.
A slew of anecdotal evidence suggests Samsung is giving Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 an outsized role within the upcoming foldables, including the Galaxy Z Flip 8, while reserving the lion's share of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6/Pro for the Galaxy S27 Series.
Samsung's Exynos 2600 to power the Galaxy Z Flip 8 in just a few regions, with the key US and China regions getting a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5-powered Flip 8
According to a new FCC filing, Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Z Flip 8 will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, bearing the codename SM8850 within the filing. Do note that this is a sea-change from the Flip 7, which was exclusively powered by the Exynos 2500 chip, even in the US. Of course, Samsung might yet equip other regional variants of the Galaxy Z Flip 8 with its Exynos 2600 chip. Do note that the tipster Ice Universe has separately disclosed that the US- and China-based variants of the Flip 8 will be powered by the flagship Snapdragon chip.
A similar FCC filing a few days back had revealed that Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 8, which sports a passport-like form factor and is meant to go toe-to-toe with Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone, bears a Qualcomm modem, which likely means that it too will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, especially as Samsung typically pairs its in-house modem with Exynos chips. At any rate, the successor to the Galaxy Z Flip 7, dubbed the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, is also widely expected to be powered by Qualcomm's flagship SoC.
What's more, even Samsung's upcoming Watch Ultra 3 is expected to be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear Elite chip. This emerging picture is giving Qualcomm a polar position within Samsung's upcoming products, to the detriment of Exynos chips and Samsung LSI.
Meanwhile, Samsung's Galaxy S27 Pro and Ultra variants are also now expected to go with Qualcomm's next-gen Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro chips, with Qualcomm having already prepared two distinct versions of the chip to provide Samsung some much-needed optionality. This means that the Exynos 2700 chip might be relegated to a few regional variants of the base Galaxy S27 and S27+.
Finally the colors and stock wallpapers for the upcoming Galaxy Z series have now leaked, showing that Samsung is going with a relatively exotic and eclectic color mix this time around.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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