Samsung's next-gen flagship Exynos 2600 5G mobile chipset seems to be closing in on a launch window. Yesterday, a teaser trailer appeared online—the 30-second-long presentation mentioned that the South Korean giant's top SoC offering has been "refined at the core" and "optimized at every level." Contrary to this present day positive messaging, a steady flow of inside track information has indicated a problematic development. The Exynos 2600 processor's gestation has been linked to a troubled 2 nm GAA process (aka SF2), going back over a year. Late August reportage signalled that Samsung's foundry business was "going all in" with its cutting-edge 2 nm production line— future success could hinge on further node refinements ; allegedly dubbed "SF2P" and "SF2P+." The Samsung Galaxy S26 series could be the first set of smartphones to land at retail with 2 nm silicon onboard. Previous Galaxy S generations—three in total—have relied entirely on Qualcomm chips.

Older in-house chip-powered efforts were viewed as inferior to rival flagship devices; normally operating with the best Snapdragon chipsets inside. According to a fresh Korea Joongang Daily article, a "dual-chip strategy" has been arranged for the forthcoming S26 models. The report alludes to yet another reliance on Qualcomm, although reduced for specific territories: "it is widely suspected by industry observers that the S26 and S26 Plus will be mounted with the Exynos 2600 in Europe and Korea, while the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 Elite (3 nm) will be installed in the same models across the United States, China and Japan. For the S26 Ultra, Qualcomm chips will be used across all markets." Samsung's Exynos 2600 chip is expected to feature a 10-core design (1+3+6), paired up with a brand-new Xclipse 960 iGPU. This information was gleaned from early benchmark results; alleged evaluation sample data was discovered during the summer months.