Is there any source that this is tied to S2, or is it just "Samsung is announcing an improved 8nm process" with the S2 involvement being purely speculation?

It'd be cool if a Lite revision could be made viable, but at present, the connection here seems tenuous.

it does seem pure speculation to me too! I post it just for the poll purposes.

Whatelse could be equipped with this upcoming processor? It makes sense, cost effective! just Ditcing docks and joycons and shrink a bit the screen,  can't make ns2 afforable as ns1 lite was, only cheaper compared to its bigger cousin.

For the corroboration of this! Nintendo has increased expotentially their Research development expenses recently!

With all that is promised for this chip (“12% higher performance, 15% lower power consumption and an 8% smaller logic area”), it checks many boxes that a hypothetical Switch 2: Lite Edition would be expected. What’s most important is cost, however, and if this chip isn’t much cheaper, then I wouldn’t hold my breath.

To respond to OP poll: I’ll stand behind a 2027 launch. A new Pokémon and 3D Mario with a more affordable hardware SKU would send unit sales figures into the stratosphere.

This is probable candidate for Switch 2 Lite - anything that is made on smaller node would be vastly more expensive.