The Snapdragon 8 Elite is Qualcomm's most powerful mobile chip yet. Qualcomm made a custom version of the chip for Samsung called the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy. This chipset has been used for the entire Galaxy S25 lineup globally, including the Galaxy S25, S25+, S25 Ultra, and the Galaxy S25 Edge.

While other OEMs have used the Snapdragon 8 Elite in their flagship phones as well, it's Samsung alone that has driven Qualcomm's most powerful chipset to success this year.

It's estimated that by the end of May 2025, Samsung has sold 16.61 million units of the entire Galaxy S25 series across the globe. This includes 4.86 million units of the Galaxy S25, 3.17 million units of the S25+, 8.39 million units of the S25 Ultra, and 190,000 units of the Galaxy S25 Edge. All of these handsets feature the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset.

What's interesting to note is that the combined sales of all phones from all OEMs that used Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite still hasn't touched 16.61 million. It's impressive that one series from Samsung has outsold all flagship Android phones from others with the same chipset.

This also means that the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy is the clear winner for Qualcomm has it has shipped more of these chipsets to one single manufacturer than the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset that it has shipped to various other manufacturers.

No surprise, then, that Samsung MX head TM Roh was received very warmly at the Snapdragon Summit last year where the Snapdragon 8 Elite was unveiled. Samsung is a very important customer for Qualcomm and the Korean giant gradually bringing Exynos chipsets back into the fold will certainly be a point of concern for Qualcomm.