Samsung Electronics has unveiled its latest chip advancements in the foundry business at the Samsung Foundry Forum (SFF) 2023. The event showcased Samsung’s plans to introduce 2-nanometer (nm) production for mobile phone components by 2025 and expand its applications.
Samsung Foundry caters to major smartphone manufacturers like Qualcomm Inc. and its own smartphone business unit. The Korean tech giant has outlined its strategy to enhance its position in the chip foundry market, targeting market leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). The company aims to increase its manufacturing capacity and adopt more advanced techniques to meet growing market demands.
To this end, Samsung will ramp up production in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, and Taylor, Texas, strengthening its foundry division responsible for contract-based chip manufacturing.
Samsung’s latest strategic initiatives involve expanding the utilization of its 2nm process and increasing production capacity at its Pyeongtaek fab Line 3 (P3). Furthermore, the company is set to introduce the “Multi-Die Integration (MDI) Alliance,” aimed at propelling advancements in packaging technology. Additionally, Samsung continues to cultivate partnerships within the foundry ecosystem through collaborations with its Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem (SAFE™) partners.
Samsung Foundry will offer its expertise in manufacturing two-nanometer chips, initially targeting the production of application processors for smartphones and tablets. By leveraging the advantages of a smaller channel length, these chips will deliver enhanced performance for mobile devices.
Following the initial rollout, Samsung plans to expand the availability of its 2nm process to high-performance computing applications in 2026 and automotive chips in 2027.
Samsung also unveiled details of its 2nm process technology, with a significant 12% performance improvement and a remarkable 25% enhancement in power efficiency compared to its existing 3nm offering. With this, the company became the first chipmaker worldwide to launch a three-nanometer process last year.
Samsung’s latest chips manufactured using the 2nm process have demonstrated performance gains and increased power efficiency. Moreover, the company has confirmed its plans to mass-produce its first 1.4nm chips by 2027.
In addition to the improvements in performance and power efficiency, Samsung’s 2nm process also allows for chips that are 5% smaller in size compared to those produced using the 3nm process.
Furthermore, Samsung Foundry is venturing into contract manufacturing services for eight-inch gallium nitride power management chips. These chips play a vital role in supporting a diverse range of applications in the consumer, data center, and automotive sectors. Samsung has announced that these contract manufacturing services will be available starting in 2025, demonstrating the company’s commitment to catering to the evolving needs of its customers.
Additionally, Samsung Foundry is actively developing the 5nm Radio Frequency (RF) process for the 6G era. Anticipated to be accessible in the first half of 2025, the 5nm RF process offers significant advancements, including a 40% increase in power efficiency and a 50% reduction in size compared to the previous 14nm process. Besides, Samsung Foundry is set to introduce automotive applications to its 8nm and 14nm RF chips.
“Samsung Foundry has always met customer needs by being ahead of the technology innovation curve, and today, we are confident that our gate-all-around (GAA)-based advanced node technology will be instrumental in supporting the needs of our customers using AI applications,” said Dr. Siyoung Choi, President and Head of Foundry Business at Samsung Electronics.
