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Samsung could announce 1nm chips plans next month

by on30 May 2024


Alongside mass production of 2nm

Samsung Foundry could announce its plans for 1nm and 2nm chips next month during its SAFE Forum event in the USA.

According to Taiwanese media, the South Korean firm  Samsung plans to bring forward its 1nm chip production by a year. Its 1nm chips were scheduled to reach the production stage in 2027. However, the company seems to have bought 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.

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, 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.

Meanwhile, TSMC uses the GAA transistor architecture in its 2nm process node. TSMC CEO Wei Zhejia has claimed that the demand for 2nm chips will exceed that of 3nm and 5nm chips. The company plans to triple its 3nm production capacity, but TSMC does not expect to fulfil all its clients' chip orders.

Most of TSMC's 2nm chip production capacity will be sucked up by Apple for its next-generation A and M series chips for iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

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