TL;DR Qualcomm unveiled a second premium-tier processor alongside its main Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
Called the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, the chipset marks a new split within Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 8 family.
The company says the split mirrors Apple’s two-chip iPhone strategy.
At its annual Snapdragon Summit, Qualcomm introduced its expected flagship mobile processor for the next year, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. The processor is expected to power next-gen premium Android smartphones like the Galaxy S26 series. But the company also threw in a surprise at the end of its presentation, announcing a second premium-tier processor: the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5.
“We developed this chipset to give you more choices and flexibility, while still delivering flagship features,” Qualcomm said on stage. While details are scarce, the new processor will likely sit just below the Elite model. The idea is to create two distinct performance levels within Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 8 family.
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In a group interview where Android Authority’s C. Scott Brown was present, Alex Katouzian, Group GM of Mobile, Compute, and XR at Qualcomm, explained why the company took this step.
“What’s going to happen is we’re kind of bifurcating the premium tier into two. And you know you we have this Elite experience and we’re giving customers (phone makers) and an opportunity to tier in the premium tier. And I think they are asking for that as well.”
Qualcomm
Katouzian compared Qualcomm’s move directly to Apple’s ongoing strategy. “If you look at Apple, you have the same thing. You have two different chipsets,” he said.
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