Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 ‘For Galaxy’ Variant Could Be Fabricated On Samsung’s 2nm Process Node
Samsung Foundry may’ve won back a lost customer as a new leak from Revegnus has pointed out that Qualcomm might look towards SF for its Snapdragon mobile APs in the future. At this point in time, all of the flagship SoCs from Qualcomm, including the ones that’ll be released this year (Snapdragon 8 Gen 4), are exclusively being manufactured on TSMC’s 3nm process node.
Qualcomm Expects to Utilize a Multi-Foundry Approach for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5
The report indicates that Qualcomm may adopt a multi-foundry strategy next year to manufacture the next generation of Snapdragon chips. Previously, Samsung fabricated Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon SoCs, including the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. However, due to concerns about overheating and inefficiency, Qualcomm switched to TSMC, which has been their exclusive foundry partner since then.
This pattern could change next year. Not only is Samsung expected to excel as a mobile manufacturer again, but its foundry division might also make a comeback. While the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 is reportedly slated for fabrication on TSMC’s 3nm N3E process node, the “For Galaxy” variant specifically designed for Samsung’s flagship phones could utilize a 2nm variant produced by Samsung Foundry on their SF2P node.
Will Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 See a Generational Gap Within the Same Lineup?
If the above leaks are considered to be accurate, a nodal jump from 3nm to 2nm within the same year in the same generation of SoC seems highly unlikely. If done, it might be hard for Qualcomm to justify this level of discrepancy to its other clients, especially at a sensitive time like this when competition is picking up from the likes of MediaTek and Google (with the expected improvement in Tensor G5 to match other flagship SoCs).
Since this, like other news, is simply an early leak, we’d advise our readers to take this news with a pinch of salt until stronger patterns or leaks surface online later. This is all we know for now, but rest assured that we will keep you updated as new information becomes available.
via: Revegnus
