C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Samsung’s mobile unit is reportedly in talks to reduce Exynos 2600 pricing by $20 to $30 compared to flagship Snapdragon silicon.
- It’s believed this move is meant to improve profitability, suggesting that these savings won’t be passed on to consumers.
- Samsung is also tipped to release an Exynos-powered Galaxy S26 in Asia.
Recent leaks suggest that Samsung will use Exynos or Snapdragon silicon in the Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus, depending on the region. Now, another source has chimed in, while adding more details.
Chosun Biz (via Jukanlosreve on Twitter) reports that the Exynos 2600-equipped Galaxy S26 will primarily be sold in Asia, including Korea. This comes after ET News reported last week that the S26 and S26 Plus will receive Exynos power in Korea and Europe, but Snapdragon silicon in North America. ET News added that the S26 Ultra will be equipped with a Snapdragon chip globally.
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However, sources also told Chosun Biz that Samsung’s LSI division (responsible for Exynos chips) has been negotiating with Samsung’s MX mobile unit to lower the supply costs of the Exynos 2600 chipset by $20 to $30 over the Snapdragon chip.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that the Exynos-equipped Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus will be $20 to $30 cheaper in these regions, though. Instead, it’s believed that this move might improve profitability for the phones. In other words, Samsung is poised to improve its profit margin instead of passing on these savings to consumers.
Samsung’s flagship Exynos chips have traditionally lagged behind Snapdragon silicon in terms of horsepower. In fact, an industry source reportedly suggested that the Exynos 2600 saw “good indicators” in benchmark tests, but could have “completely different” performance in real-world devices.
“It is in the same vein that chips from Apple and Qualcomm adopt custom core designs and focus on real-world usage environments rather than the benchmarks of the chips themselves through smartphone optimization,” the source told the outlet.
The Exynos 2600 is expected to use some of the same Arm CPU cores as the Dimensity 9500 chipset. However, our testing revealed that the MediaTek chip’s CPU lagged behind the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 CPU. We therefore expect a similar gulf in CPU performance between the Exynos 2600 and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. But we’re keen to see whether Exynos-equipped Galaxy S26 phones can outperform the Snapdragon variants in other areas.
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