Qualcomm Technologies will outsource fabrication of its newly-released Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 mobile SoC chip to Samsung Electronics in what’s called as a foundry chip agreement. Yet, it is unclear who will become wafer supplier for Qualcomm’s next generation of 3nm mobile SoC, as foundry market leader TSMC, distant No. 2 Samsung, and newcomer Intel will be vying for winning the order.      

When asked if Samsung will fabricate Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 with a 4nano chip processing technology at Qualcomm’s Annual Tech Summit 2021 held in Hawaii, Cristiano Amon, CEO with Qualcomm Technologies, was quoted by Korean media reporters as saying, “Yes”.

He was also quoted as saying that we will constantly work together with Samsung sharing a technology roadmap, ramping up to a next generation of 3nm process technology, but TSMC is a good partner, too, and we will even consider to expand our  reach even into Intel when .

The foundry contract with Qualcomm is the latest of Samsung’s recent winning streak of contract chip-making orders, closely following on the footstep of its earlier contract signed in 2020 to fabricate Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888, a predecessor to Snapdragon 8 Gen1.

Samsung was a sole contract chip maker that was contracted to fabricate the whole volume of the Snapdragon 888.

When it comes to Snapdragon 8 Gen1, Samsung is the only foundry chip maker that was entitled to fabricate it, according to Qualcomm Senior Vice President Alex Katouzian, who said Samsung will be handling the entire volume of its new premium mobile AP chipsets.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is the latest of its mobile SoC offerings that highlights desktop-level gaming experiences. The chip comes equipped with cutting-edge 5G, on-device AI solution, gaming, camera, wi-fi, and even Bluetooth.

As the chip will become commercially available by the end of 2021, global OMEs brands will adopt the SoC to release their mobile devices