Qualcomm Signals No Change to Samsung’s Galaxy S27 Chip Strategy

Qualcomm may have just offered one of the clearest signals yet about Samsung’s chip strategy for the Galaxy S27 series, and there are no surprises. During a recent earnings call, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon emphasized that the company’s relationship with Samsung remains “very, very stable.” More importantly, he hinted that the same framework used for the Galaxy S26 lineup will likely carry over to next year’s flagships.

Galaxy S27 series may keep Samsung’s dual-chip strategy

Samsung equipped the Galaxy S26 and S26+ with its in-house Exynos 2600 in most markets, with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 powering the phones in the US and select other regions. The S26 Ultra, on the other hand, runs Snapdragon globally. And since the Ultra model consistently accounts for a disproportionate share of total sales in Samsung’s flagship lineup, Qualcomm’s overall chip share still comfortably exceeds 70%.

Amon revealed that Qualcomm expects a similar share next year, suggesting that the Galaxy S27 series will keep the same dual-chip strategy. This means the next Snapdragon flagship may once again power the S27 Ultra globally. There rumored “Pro” model, which could be an Ultra without the S Pen, may also rely exclusively on Qualcomm silicon. The standard Galaxy S27 and S27+, meanwhile, may use a mix of Exynos and Snapdragon.

Another interesting twist this year is the possibility of Qualcomm launching two flagship-tier Snapdragon chips, one with a more powerful GPU and faster memory. Samsung is expected to use the top-tier variant in the Galaxy S27 series. Or maybe it will differentiate the lineup by using the more powerful chip in the Ultra and a slightly scaled version in the Pro and the other two models. We should get a clearer picture in the coming months.