Samsung Foundry could announce its plans for 1nm chips next month during its SAFE Forum event in the USA. According to Taiwanese media, the South Korean firm is also expected to announce mass production plans for 2nm chips during the event.
Samsung could start production of 1nm chips as soon as 2026
Samsung Foundry is holding its annual SAFE Forum in Silicon Valley, USA, from June 12-13. During the event, it is expected to announce its plans for the mass production of 1nm and 2nm chips. According to the media, Samsung is planning to advance the production of its 1nm chips by a year. Its 1nm chips were planned to reach the production stage in 2027. However, the company seems to have decided to prepone those plans to 2026.
The South Korean firm has been trying to take the lead in semiconductor production from its rival TSMC. However, the company's plans haven't worked. Due to heat and efficiency issues in Samsung's 4nm and 5nm chips, Qualcomm switched to TSMC for most of its smartphone chips.
With its 3nm process, which uses the Gate All Around (GAA) transistor architecture, Samsung expected to solve heat and efficiency issues. It started the mass production of 3nm chips in June 2022, but it didn't get any big-name chip clients due to yield-related issues. Yield refers to the percentage of usable chips that have passed quality testing compared to all the chips produced.
When should we expect 3nm chips from Samsung?
Samsung's Exynos W1000 is expected to be the first mobile chip produced using Samsung Foundry's 3nm process. It will likely be used in the Galaxy Watch 7 series, which will be announced in July 2024. The Exynos 2500 could be Samsung's second 3nm chip, and it will likely debut in the Galaxy S25, which will launch in early 2025.
The story continues after our video below.
TSMC to start production of 2nm chips in 2025
TSMC is using the GAA transistor architecture in its 2nm process node. TSMC CEO Wei Zhejia has claimed that the demand for 2nm chips is expected to exceed that of 3nm and 5nm chips. The company plans to triple its 3nm production capacity, but even then, TSMC expects to not be able to fulfill all its clients' chip orders.
Most of TSMC's 2nm chip production capacity is expected to be used by Apple for its next-generation A and M series chips for iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
