[News] Qualcomm Launches Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, May Plan Samsung Galaxy-Exclusive Version

On the 24th, Qualcomm unveiled its next-generation chips at the annual Snapdragon Summit. According to ZDNet, citing Alex Katouzian, Qualcomm Senior Vice President and Head of the Mobile, Compute & XR (MCX) Business Unit, the company has been working with Samsung on the chip design for the Galaxy S26, set to launch next year. Katouzian added that Qualcomm and Samsung have been collaborating on IP (intellectual property) for the product for about two years.

At the event, Qualcomm unveiled its next-generation Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 mobile AP, which, as the report highlights, is expected to be adopted in Samsung’ Galaxy S26 smartphones. The report notes that Qualcomm has long supplied Samsung with Galaxy-specific chips, and a similar partnership is anticipated for the Galaxy S26.

Katouzian further underscored Qualcomm’s collaboration with Samsung Foundry. As the report notes, the new Snapdragon chip uses TSMC’s 3nm process, but Qualcomm is maintaining its strategy of diversifying the foundry supply chain, with Samsung still actively under consideration.

The report also highlights that Qualcomm and Samsung plan to work together on 6G development, with Qualcomm forecasting that 6G-enabled devices could be commercialized as early as 2028.

Inside the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5

As noted by TechNews, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is built on TSMC’s N3P process and Qualcomm’s third-generation Oryon CPU, delivering 20% higher single-core and 17% higher multi-core performance. Its new Adreno GPU adopts a sliced architecture, reaching up to 1.2GHz with 20% lower power use, while the Hexagon NPU provides 37% better performance and 16% greater power efficiency over the previous generation.

In addition, TechNews reports that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 supports LPDDR5x memory with frequencies of up to 5,300MHz and capacities of up to 24GB. Qualcomm also noted that this generation introduces Adreno High Performance Memory (HPM), offering 18MB of dedicated memory.

Per its press release, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 will be adopted in flagship smartphones by leading global OEMs and brands, including Honor, OPPO, Samsung, Sony, and Xiaomi.

Meanwhile, Commercial Times reports that Qualcomm also unveiled the Snapdragon X2 Elite series, touted as the fastest processors for Windows PCs and a direct challenge to x86’s dominance in the laptop market. Devices powered by the new processors are expected to launch in the first half of 2026.

Read more

• [News] Samsung Reportedly Plans Exynos 2600 in Galaxy S26 Models, Reducing Qualcomm Reliance
• [News] TSMC Reportedly Raising N3P Prices 20% Ahead of 2nm Era, Pressuring Qualcomm and MediaTek

(Photo credit: Qualcomm)