Samsung loses Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 contract to TSMC

Samsung’s semiconductor manufacturing division suffered another major defeat this week. The company was unable to secure a contract with Qualcomm, and the company’s next high-end SoC – the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 – will be manufactured exclusively by TSMC.

Details of these negotiations are rarely officially disclosed, but the most obvious speculation mentions recent problems Samsung has had manufacturing the 3nm process. With yield rates much lower than expected for the technology, Qualcomm would have opted for TSMC, which has been extremely consistent in its leadership in the semiconductor market.

The loss of the contract has more negative impacts for Samsung than just the money it won’t receive from Qualcomm. This defeat could result in an unwanted price increase for its next generation of high-end Galaxy phones.

There are rumors that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 will have a considerable price increase, and Samsung will not have the negotiating power to produce the chip in its factories. This should reflect negatively on the company in the contracts it will be able to sign with Qualcomm for its future cell phones.

Samsung bets on future to recover

Like every company specializing in cutting-edge technology, Samsung is betting on its future products to recover from the most recent difficulties. The folks at TechSpot report that the company has already managed to stabilize the 3nm process for more stable results, while boosting the development of 2nm to remain competitive with TSMC.

Furthermore, the company would have plans to deliver 1.4nm chips as early as 2027. Therefore, it is more than expected that Samsung will try to reach a new contract with Qualcomm when the time comes to produce the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 3.

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Until then, obviously, TSMC is not standing still and continues its advances. The company appears to have its 2nm process well underway and is already promising 1.6nm for 2026.