The supply of Samsung Electronics Co.'s upcoming flagship smartphone, presumably the Galaxy S8, may fail to meet demand due to the sluggish production of Qualcomm chipsets, industry sources said Tuesday.

The outlook came as the new top-of-the-line model is expected to become the first smartphone to adopt Qualcomm's latest system on a chip (SoC), the Snapdragon 835. The models that will be sold in South Korea and some other global markets will come with Samsung's own Exynos 8895 that boasts similar performance.

Industry sources, however, said Samsung will face hurdles in securing sufficient SoCs for its latest Galaxy smartphones, as the production of the Snapdragon 835 and Exynos 8895 are falling behind market expectations.

The presumed Galaxy S8 is widely expected to boast cutting-edge technologies including an iris scanner and an artificial intelligence program.

The sluggish supply of chipsets, however, may adversely impact Samsung's sales, especially as the global smartphone market is already saturated with rival products, they added.

Samsung's smaller South Korean rival LG Electronics Inc. showcased the LG G5 modular phone last year, but the device's initial supply failed to meet demand, resulting in sluggish overall sales.

Taking the experience into consideration, LG Electronics adopted the Snapdragon 821 on the LG G6 smartphone released this year. (Yonhap)