Samsung Foundry will present 8LPU+, the second generation of its 8LPU platform, at IEDM 2026 on December 14, and Nintendo Patents Watch has already pegged it as a possible fit for a Switch 2 Lite. It's speculation for now. Nintendo hasn't announced a Switch 2 Lite, and Samsung's material doesn't mention Nintendo or NVIDIA. The link exists because the Switch 2's NVIDIA T239 SoC is built on Samsung's 8 nm node, so a refined version of that process is an obvious candidate for a cheaper handheld-only model.

Samsung's IEDM abstract lists 12% higher performance, 15% lower power, and an 8% area shrink over 8LPU, along with roughly 10% smaller I/O area and lower standby leakage. It's a DUV-only node, and Samsung pitches it at automotive, robotics and edge AI chips. Korea's Electronic Times reports the platform should arrive before year's end, and quoted an industry official who named existing 8 nm customers as likely candidates. Of course, these are process-level figures, so they don't directly translate into a future Switch 2 Lite that runs 12% faster or lasts 15% longer per charge. We also don't know how closely NVIDIA's custom 8N variant maps onto 8LPU+.Of course, cost is the other major concern. Nintendo raised the Switch 2 to $499.99 on September 1, largely blaming memory prices, and Samsung reportedly bumped 8 nm wafer prices by nearly 10% for new orders in July. A smaller die on already-depreciated DUV lines could claw some of that back, though it probably won't offset rising DRAM costs by itself. Until Nintendo says otherwise, a Switch 2 Lite remains a rumor.