60%
Plausible
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 will find its way in 75 percent of all Galaxy S26 models worldwide, with the Galaxy S26 Ultra exclusively sporting Qualcomm’s flagship SoC in whatever markets it is sold in. Assuming Samsung had a choice, it would love nothing more than to save billions in chipset expenditure and employ its own SoCs in its devices, but that’s not possible, at least for now. Based on a rumor, the company will be forced to pay a hefty fine to Qualcomm if it does not hold up its end of the deal.
Samsung’s ‘lower than ideal’ yields of the Exynos 2600 aren’t helping matters either, but Qualcomm likely had something to do with ensuring a larger share of Galaxy S26 models featuring the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
With the Korean giant’s chipset expenditure reaching an estimated $9 billion in 2023, it is clear that the figure was only going to increase, as Qualcomm started to charge a premium for its silicon, thanks to shifting to TSMC’s next-generation manufacturing processes and moving to in-house CPU cores. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 costs approximately $280, depending on volume and other conditions, meaning that Samsung would be forced to introduce a price hike to the Galaxy S26 Ultra as the Exynos 2600 will only be found in the remaining models.
However, despite this increase, Samsung remains adamant about sourcing flagship chipsets from Qualcomm, but there’s a reason for this continued partnership. On X, Alex posted a screenshot of a DM, asking why the Galaxy S26 Ultra will ship with a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. The reply stated that the deal between Qualcomm and Samsung is yet to expire, and if the Korean technology behemoth prematurely breaks the partnership, it will have to pay a hefty fine.
While the exact penalty has not been mentioned in the exchange between the two, the fact that Samsung continues to source from Qualcomm means that it will likely be paying way more in penalties than the bill incurred for purchasing Snapdragon chipsets. Also, the low yields for the Exynos 2600 don’t help Samsung’s case, making a partnership with Qualcomm a double-edged sword.
Qualcomm’s ‘predatory’ business tactics cannot only be blamed, especially when companies won’t make the effort to break away from such deals
As a technology-based entity existing in one of the most cutthroat industries, Qualcomm has a heightened survival instinct that enables it to succeed against rivals. However, the strategies it has employed for several years have not done wonders for its reputation, as some would call Qualcomm ‘greedy.’ For instance, it not only charges Apple a ludicrous sum for its 5G modems but also a royalty for using proprietary technology, forcing the company to eventually develop its own baseband chip, the C1.
Even now, Apple’s modem licensing agreement with Qualcomm ends in March 2027, suggesting that Samsung has probably inked a multi-year deal with its partner. To be fair, there was nothing on this planet that prevented Samsung from ditching the Snapdragon brand entirely and focusing solely on its Exynos alternatives. Sadly, as history has proven, self-sufficiency is not the company’s forte, which is why companies like Qualcomm exist to capitalize on these opportunities.
News Source: Alex
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