Samsung Foundry Pushes Up The Race Against TSMC In "Process Superiority", Starts Prepping 2nm & 1.4nm Production Lines

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wccftech.com, Oct. 16, 2024 – 

Samsung Foundry is now pushing up its gears to make its 2nm process competitive in the industry as the division pursues facility enhancement along with upgrading production lines.

Despite Dwindling Conditions, Samsung Foundry Remains Determined To Overthrow TSMC In The Semiconductor Race With 2nm & 1.4nm Nodes

The Korean giant's business in the semiconductor markets isn't quite too well, given that the firm's processes have become a victim of flaws, whether it is unstable yields or even lack of interest from the industry. Samsung's 3nm products, which were said to be a breakthrough for them due to the integration of GAA technology, haven't managed to attract interest at all, resulting in massive financial losses. Similar is the case with the next-gen 2nm process, and despite being ahead of TSMC in node size, the Korean giant is nowhere near when it comes to sustainable production.

Despite roadblocks, Samsung Foundry looks confident about the future. According to a new report by BusinessKorea, the Korean giant is now proceeding with mass production of 2nm by establishing advanced production facilities at the Hwaseong plant in South Korea. It intends to reach an output of 7,000 wafers per month by Q1 2025. Not just 2nm, but Samsung feels confident moving ahead towards 1.4 nm as well, with reports that the firm is prepping to install production lines at Pyeongtaek 2 plant, with capacity reaching up to 3,000 wafers.

It looks like Samsung has decided to compete with TSMC's process cycle, potentially overthrowing the firm by scaling up the "node shrinking" process. By already starting work on 2nm and planning to switch towards 1.4nm soon, Samsung might potentially be ahead of TSMC by a two-year margin, given that the Taiwan giant plans to switch towards 1.4nm by 2027. In a recent earnings call, Samsung committed full confidence towards its foundry division, despite rumors of a potential spin-off, hence it's safe to say that Samsung Foundry isn't going anywhere.

The interesting thing to note here is that Samsung's focus on process shrinking isn't viable given the fact that existing technologies, particularly 3nm and ahead, haven't managed to see consistent yield rates, which only makes production much more inefficient. When compared with the likes of TSMC, which has its 3nm and derivatives as one of the highly-demanding nodes in the markets, Samsung's approach to focus on reducing node size won't be effective unless they figure out yield rate issues.

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