Rumors that began circulating before Christmas (2025) about smartphone chip manufacturers adopting Samsung’s proprietary heat path block technology have gained weight with new leaks pointing directly at Qualcomm. By the middle of January, the Fixed-focus digital cameras Weibo account suggested that heat path block was being selected by many chip manufacturers that commonly use Android chips, hinting at broad interest in Samsung’s cooling innovation. Earlier today, a leaked SM8975 packaging set of schematics appeared to show Qualcomm integrating a Samsung-designed heat path block into a next-generation Snapdragon mobile chipset, with the speculative Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro model positioned as the likely candidate.
The latest leak, again attributed to Fixed-focus digital cameras, links Qualcomm’s upcoming premium Snapdragon to a key heatsink structure originating from Samsung’s soon-to-launch Exynos 2600 system-on-chip. By the end of last week, multiple reports had already claimed that Qualcomm was borrowing the heat path block design from an arch-rival, underscoring a pragmatic shift despite competitive tensions. Qualcomm’s recent flagship processors have delivered strong benchmark placements, but these cutting-edge chips have repeatedly encountered thermal limit barriers even when paired with costly vapor chamber-based cooling systems, creating pressure for more effective heat dissipation approaches.
Samsung Foundry’s heat path block is positioned directly over and in contact with the chipset die, removing the unwanted thermal blockage created when a layer of DRAM sits on top of the processor package. Instead, DRAM is moved off to the side so that the heat path block can provide a more direct and efficient thermal route away from the die. Reports from late last year identified Qualcomm and Apple as the two main external frontrunners for adopting heat path block technology, with Samsung itself pioneering deployment in its 2-nanometer Exynos 2600 application processor. If the SM8975 leak proves accurate, Qualcomm’s embrace of Samsung’s cooling design could mark a notable change in mobile chip packaging strategy aimed at sustaining peak performance under tight thermal constraints.
