Erencan YılmazSamsung has confirmed that its next Exynos 2600 flagship chipset will be produced on its cutting-edge 2nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) process, according to IDC industry analyst Bryan Ma. The confirmation sets the Exynos 2600 up to be the market’s first 2nm chip, giving Samsung a considerable advantage over others in advanced semiconductor production.
The new chip is also expected to deliver dramatically better NPU performance and support for on-device AI capabilities, which has been an increased focus for the industry in general with the enhanced artificial intelligence features. This is a very strategic move for Samsung’s overall business environment, as it tries to improve its semiconductor business and appeal to high-end customers.
Pioneering the 2nm Era
The Exynos 2600’s use of Samsung Foundry’s 2nm GAA process is a breakthrough in chip production. The technology advancement gives Samsung a possible first-mover benefit since other principal chipmakers such as Apple, MediaTek, and Qualcomm are said to still be intending to use TSMC’s 3nm fabrication process in their upcoming flagship SoCs.
If the Exynos 2600 is actually the first to be released with a 2nm node, it may establish a new standard for mobile processor performance and efficiency and determine future chip design and production trends throughout the industry.
Aside from its manufacturing process, the Exynos 2600 is also set to provide remarkable improvements in its Neural Processing Unit (NPU), which is responsible for boosting AI processes directly on the device. This improved AI assistance will be needed to power the more advanced on-device AI capabilities in upcoming smartphones, including sophisticated image processing, real-time language translation, and personalized experiences for users.
Strategic Implications and Market Confidence
This move is viewed as essential to Samsung’s overall strategic goals. Though Samsung has continued to hold its own in the smartphone space, its semiconductor business has seen growth pressure over the past few years. The successful release of the Exynos 2600, along with Samsung’s recent long-term exclusive agreement with Tesla for 2nm chip supply (valued up to $16.5 billion USD) should go a long way towards restoring market faith in Samsung Foundry.
This restored faith may see more top-tier customers gravitating towards Samsung’s foundry services, which can potentially lead to a revival in the company’s share price and solidify its status as a world-leading chip maker. The Exynos 2600 is expected to be incorporated in the Galaxy S26 line of smartphones, set to debut in 2026. Early leaks of its specs point to a robust 10-core CPU configuration, with one ultra-large core, three large cores, and six small cores.
On the graphics front, the chip is likely to carry the new Eclipse 960 GPU that outmuscles the Adreno 830 GPU of Qualcomm’s latest flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite by around 15%. The world will watch with great interest how the Exynos 2600 stacks up against Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 when it comes to real-world uses, as the fight for mobile chip supremacy gets more heated.
Source: X on Bryan Ma
