Qualcomm May Have Cut Samsung From Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 Production

Qualcomm will take the wraps off its Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 chipset at the company’s usual Hawaii launch event, likely happening in September 2025. According to early rumors, the next-gen chip could arrive in two flavors: one built on a 2nm process, the other on 3nm. Reports suggest Samsung and TSMC will handle the manufacturing duties, respectively.

Samsung might not make the 2nm Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 after all

Samsung may have initially passed the test and secured the deal to produce the 2nm Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 SoC for Qualcomm. It looked like a major win for Samsung’s foundry business, which has been under pressure for trailing behind rivals like TSMC. But those plans might have just hit a snag.

According to recent reports (via Jukanlosreve on X), Qualcomm is now pulling back from the Samsung-made 2nm variant. Qualcomm has removed all mentions of the 2nm Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 chip from current listings, suggesting they dropped the project.

Earlier documents pointed to two versions of the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 (SM8850): the 8850-T, built on TSMC’s 3nm process, and the 8850-S, reportedly manufactured by Samsung on a 2nm node. Now, only the base SM8850 shows up in listings, and all signs point to the TSMC version taking the lead.

That likely means most flagship Android phones launching in late 2025 will ship with the TSMC-made 3nm chip. Qualcomm hasn’t offered any explanation for the change, and there’s still no official word on why the Samsung variant was shelved.

Whether it’s a manufacturing issue, cost problem, or performance gap, no one knows for sure. What’s clear is that Qualcomm appears to be sticking with the safer, more proven option for now. Still, it may be too early to count Samsung out entirely. Until there’s something official, best to take all of this with a grain of salt.