Samsung Electronics will start mass production this month of its Exynos 2600 mobile processor, which is expected to power next year's Galaxy S26 smartphones, industry sources said Monday.
The comeback of the in-house chip after two years is raising hopes that stronger performance could help revive the company's loss-making system LSI and foundry businesses, long dogged by yield problems and weak credibility.
Exynos chips have faced years of criticism for overheating, poor power efficiency and unstable yield, forcing Samsung to drop them from this year's Galaxy S25 series. The company previously used a mix of Qualcomm's Snapdragon and its own Exynos chips in the Galaxy S21, S22 and S24 series. Their return in the S26 could cut costs for the mobile division as well as give the system LSI unit a much-needed boost.
In July, Park Yong-in, head of the System LSI division in charge of producing application processors, told reporters the company was "carefully preparing" the Exynos 2600 and expected "good results."
The Exynos 2600 is also expected to be the first flagship built on Samsung's 2-nanometer gate-all-around chipmaking process, offering the foundry an opportunity to prove it can deliver stable mass production at that level. The chip introduces a new thermal management feature, the "heat path block," designed to improve efficiency and stability.
Recent Geekbench tests showed the Exynos 2600 scoring 3,309 in single-core and 11,256 in multicore performance, a sharp improvement from earlier runs averaging 2,575 and 8,761. The results put it nearly level with Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2, which scored 3,393 and 11,515 in respective tests. Qualcomm's chip is expected to power rival Android flagships.
"The Exynos 2600 could reignite growth in Samsung's nonmemory operations if performance gains are sustained and supply expands," an industry official said.
The new chip is also expected to support a recovery of Samsung's foundry business. According to Daishin Securities last week, Samsung's Device Solutions division — which includes the LSI and foundry and memory chip units — is forecast to post 5 trillion won ($3.6 billion) in operating profit for the July-September period, a sharp improvement from 350 billion won in the second quarter.
Daishin Securities estimated operating profit in Samsung's memory chip business at 6.31 trillion won for the third quarter, while the foundry unit is expected to record a 1.3 trillion won loss — about half of the 2.6 trillion deficit in the previous quarter.
Analysts said profitability has improved as Samsung raised utilization by installing its in-house Exynos chip in the Galaxy Flip 7 launched in July, while yield stabilization and early cost adjustments also helped.
Industry officials expect major orders from global clients, including Nintendo, Tesla and Valens, to further accelerate structural improvements in Samsung’s foundry business from next year.
"Samsung's foundry business is moving out of its worst phase and onto a recovery path," said Park Kang-ho, an analyst at Daishin Securities. "Next year, new orders along with the use of Exynos processors in the upcoming Galaxy S26 Ultra are expected to lift utilization further and drive continued earnings improvement."
herim@heraldcorp.com
