Samsung is unlikely to avoid raising prices on the Galaxy S25 and S26 series

The Snapdragon 8 Elite will be the first AP to be manufactured using TSMC's 3nm process. However, as TSMC is likely to increase the cost of 3nm and 5nm chips by 10% by 2025 due to high demand for AI-related products, the price of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip will be affected, which in turn will affect the price of the Galaxy S25 series.

Galaxy S25 will be priced higher because it uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite chip

While Samsung typically uses the Exynos 2500 chip for most Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ models outside the US, Canada, and China, Samsung Foundry is struggling to achieve the 3nm yield needed for mass production. Samsung Foundry’s 3nm chip yield is reportedly only 20% to 30%, far below the 70% needed. This could force Samsung to use too many expensive silicon wafers to produce enough Exynos 2500 chips for the Galaxy S25 series.

As a result, the Exynos 2500 won't be used in the Galaxy S25, although Samsung hopes to use the chip in the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Galaxy Z Flip FE. Meanwhile, Samsung is expected to integrate the Snapdragon 8 Elite into all members of the Galaxy S25 series.

Galaxy S25 will be powerful thanks to Snapdragon 8 Lite chip

The good news for Galaxy S25 users is that the Snapdragon 8 Elite can deliver powerful performance with 2 Prime cores running at 4.32 GHz and 6 cores running at 3.53 GHz. This shows that Qualcomm is trying to bring a powerful chip line to the market in the way that MediaTek has succeeded with the Dimensity 9300 and 9400 chips.

If the Exynos 2600 encounters similar issues, Samsung could face tough decisions regarding the Galaxy S26 series, which it plans to launch in 2026. Samsung clearly doesn’t want to rely on TSMC to manufacture Exynos chipsets, but the reality is that Samsung Foundry has been struggling with yield for a long time. Previously, low yields on the 4nm process forced Qualcomm to shift production of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 to TSMC, where the chip was tweaked and renamed the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1.

It is known that Samsung Foundry is under pressure to improve productivity, while TSMC has a 64% market share in the contract foundry industry, Samsung Foundry only has a 12% market share.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/samsung-kho-tranh-khoi-viec-tang-gia-dong-galaxy-s25-va-s26-185241231181222771.htm