The 2nm Reunion: Qualcomm Confirms Samsung Foundry Talks at CES 2026

At CES 2026, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon confirmed negotiations with Samsung to use its 2nm process for an upcoming computing platform, reflecting a potential return to Samsung foundry services amid constrained TSMC capacity driven by major customers like Apple, NVIDIA, and MediaTek. While maintaining ties with TSMC, Qualcomm may tier production—keeping flagship, power-sensitive chips at TSMC and assigning sub-flagship or regional variants to Samsung—pending evidence of stable 2nm yields. The report contrasts past issues with Samsung-made Snapdragon 888/8 Gen 1 (yields, power, thermals) with recent Samsung foundry wins and suggests consumer success will hinge on raw performance and thermal efficiency.