Qualcomm is snuffling around Samsung again for its next flagship Snapdragon.
The chip outfit has mostly leaned on TSMC lately after Samsung-made parts ran hot and rough, but the pendulum looks to be swinging.
SamMobile reports that Qualcomm chief executive Cristiano Amon has reportedly flown to South Korea for talks with Samsung Foundry and SK Hynix, with foundry cooperation high on the agenda.
The chatter is that Qualcomm and Samsung Foundry are discussing a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 build on Samsung’s 2nm SF2 process, which would be a big vote of confidence.
If it lands, it would be Qualcomm crawling back to Samsung Foundry after about five years away, which is a lifetime in mobile-silicon grudges.
Samsung’s pitch is that its process has improved on heat and yield, the same sore points that pushed Qualcomm into TSMC’s arms in the first place.
Qualcomm has its own motive too, with TSMC wafer prices said to be climbing, and nobody enjoys paying extra for the privilege of waiting in a queue.
Amon reportedly skipped a meeting with Samsung MX head TM Roh during the trip, which is a bit spicy given Samsung is one of Qualcomm’s biggest Snapdragon phone customers.
The pair are still working together on other kit, including Snapdragon Wear Elite for smartwatches and Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 for AR and VR headsets.
On the memory side, Amon is expected to talk HBM and SOCAMM supply with SK Hynix as Qualcomm gears up for mass production of its AI200 AI accelerator.
Samsung Foundry will be desperate to prove SF2 can deliver in volume.
