Samsung appears to have settled on its chip strategy for the next generation of Galaxy flagships. According to industry sources, the company has largely finalized plans to equip its upcoming Galaxy S27 series with its own Exynos processor across more models than before — a move that could mark a meaningful step forward for Samsung’s non-memory chip business.
A Region-Based Dual-Chip Strategy
Samsung has reportedly settled on a dual-processor approach for the Galaxy S27 lineup, with the specific chip varying by both model tier and region.
For the standard, Plus, and Pro versions of the Galaxy S27, Samsung is expected to split things by market: global regions including Korea and Europe will reportedly get the company’s own Exynos 2700 chip, while devices sold in the US market will run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor instead. The flagship Ultra model, meanwhile, is expected to stick with Snapdragon across every region, regardless of where it’s sold.
This kind of region-split chip strategy isn’t new for Samsung — the company has used similar approaches in past Galaxy generations — but expanding Exynos into the Pro tier would represent a notable widening of where its in-house silicon shows up.
What’s Reportedly Inside the Exynos 2700
The Exynos 2700 is said to be built on Samsung’s second-generation 2-nanometer process, known internally as SF2P, developed through the company’s own Foundry Division. The chip’s design work reportedly comes from Samsung’s System LSI division, meaning the entire chip — from design to manufacturing — would be handled in-house.
One of the more interesting architectural details tied to this chip is its reported use of a “Side-by-Side” (SBS) layout, which arranges the processor and DRAM memory next to each other horizontally rather than stacking them. The idea behind this structure is to help manage heat more effectively while still keeping performance high — two things that tend to work against each other in compact smartphone hardware, since dense stacking often traps heat while spreading components out too much can hurt overall efficiency and signal speed.
Building on Last Year’s Approach
This wouldn’t be the first time Samsung has expanded Exynos into new territory. With the current Galaxy S26 series, Samsung began using Exynos chips in its standard and Plus models. If these reports hold true, the Galaxy S27 series would extend that strategy one step further by bringing Exynos into the Pro model as well, while still reserving Snapdragon for the Ultra and for the US market across the board.
Why This Matters for Samsung’s Chip Business
Beyond what it means for individual phone buyers, this shift carries some weight for Samsung’s broader semiconductor ambitions. Samsung’s non-memory chip business — which includes its Foundry and System LSI divisions — has faced stiff competition from rivals like TSMC and Qualcomm in recent years. Getting more of its own flagship phones running on Exynos silicon gives Samsung a larger internal testing ground and sales volume for its own chip designs, which could help the company sharpen its processes and better compete for outside foundry business down the line.
Of course, until Samsung makes an official announcement, these plans should be treated as based on industry reporting rather than confirmed fact. Chip strategies can and sometimes do shift during final development, particularly if performance testing turns up unexpected issues. Still, if this dual-chip, dual-region approach holds, Galaxy S27 buyers in different parts of the world may end up with a noticeably different chip experience depending on where they purchase their device.
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