Huawei Veteran Leads GPU Development for Galaxy S26’s Exynos 2600

For the past few years, Samsung’s flagship Exynos processors have featured custom Xclipse GPUs co-developed with AMD. These GPUs are based on the same AMD RDNA architecture used in desktop graphics cards. While this partnership brought hardware-accelerated features like ray tracing to mobile, Samsung may be preparing to chart a new path. The upcoming Exynos 2600 could debut with a fully in-house GPU.

Samsung explores new GPU direction for flagship Exynos chips

Exynos flagships have used AMD-powered Xclipse graphics architecture since the Exynos 2200 in 2022. However, starting with the next-gen Exynos 2600, Samsung may develop the GPUs for these chipsets completely in-house. The company has reportedly hired a former Huawei GPU veteran to lead the project.

The information, circulated through X, doesn’t make it clear if AMD will still help Samsung in some way or if the Korean firm will design and develop the Exynos 2600’s integrated GPU. If it’s the latter, it could offer greater design flexibility, deeper integration with Galaxy hardware and software, and cost efficiencies over licensing AMD’s technology.

While AMD’s Xclipse GPUs have delivered decent results, especially with hardware-accelerated ray tracing, they haven’t managed to catapult Samsung past rivals like Apple or Qualcomm in mobile GPU performance. Now, Samsung appears ready to try its own formula. The Korean conglomerate looks serious about reclaiming control over its silicon stack. More details should emerge in the coming months.

Beyond the GPU, the Exynos 2600 — expected to power next year’s Galaxy S26 and S26+ in select markets — could bring substantial boosts in the CPU performance. Samsung is using its cutting-edge 2nm GAA (Gate All Around) process node for the chip, so it should also be more efficient. While still in the prototype phase, mass production is reportedly for late 2025, just in time for the Galaxy S26 launch in early 2026.