Samsung Shifts Galaxy S26, S26 Edge to Exynos 2600 Globally, Ditches AMD GPU Tech
Seoul, South Korea – In a significant shift from previous strategies, Samsung is poised to equip both the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Edge with the exynos 2600 processor in all markets worldwide, according to recent reports. This marks a departure from the regional split previously employed, where Snapdragon chips powered devices in the US and China while select regions received Exynos variants. the move coincides with samsung’s decision to develop a completely new, in-house GPU designed by a former Huawei engineer, abandoning its collaboration with AMD and the xclipse 960 IP.
Historically, Samsung has utilized Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors for its flagship devices in key markets like the United States and China, while offering Exynos-powered versions in regions including Korea and Europe. However, leaked facts and benchmark listings suggest a unified global rollout of the Exynos 2600 for the upcoming S26 series. The high-end Galaxy S26 Ultra will continue to utilize the snapdragon 8 Elite 2, a strategy initiated with the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
The Exynos 2600 is expected to feature a CPU configuration of 1+7+2, and notably, Samsung has eliminated the efficiency (E) cores, mirroring a trend seen with Mediatek’s designs. While the Exynos 2600 is manufactured on TSMC’s N3P node-possibly offering a process advantage over the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2’s fabrication-past performance has not consistently translated into real-world superiority.Despite this historical trend, Samsung hopes the Exynos 2600 will bolster confidence in its semiconductor business. The company is also forging ahead with a completely new GPU architecture, entrusting its development to an engineer previously with Huawei. This represents a significant investment in self-reliant graphics technology, moving away from the AMD-based Xclipse GPUs used in recent devices.