Just because Samsung used the Snapdragon 8 Elite across the entire Galaxy S25 lineup doesn't mean it won't be bringing Exynos back to the lineup. There have already been multiple reports suggesting that the Exynos 2600 will be utilized for the Galaxy S26 series.

What remains unknown at this point in time is how this Exynos/Snapdragon split would be managed, or whether Samsung would go Exynos-only, which is unlikely. New information suggests that Europe may be the only place where the Exynos-powered Galaxy S26 units are shipped.

Based on the rumors in the X leaks echo chamber, the Exynos 2600 will be used for the Galaxy S26 but due to yield constraints on the 2nm process, it may only be shipped in Europe. This means that the Snapdragon chipset would be used everywhere else.

What the rumors don't specify is whether this would be the split across all three models. Earlier rumors have claimed that while the Galaxy S26 and S26+ will have the split, the Galaxy S26 Ultra will use Snapdragon only worldwide. We saw this with the Galaxy S24 where those two models had Exynos in some markets and Snapdragon in others while the Galaxy S24 Ultra had the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in all markets.

So why only Europe? This wouldn't be the first time Samsung does something like this. All three Galaxy S22 models sold in Europe were powered by the Exynos 2200 while the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 was used in all other regions.

Customers there have voiced their displeasure about this split whenever it has happened, but if this is indeed the case for the Galaxy S26 next year, clearly that protest hasn't registered at Samsung.