Samsung Electronics and TSMC, the top two semiconductor foundry companies globally, are actively securing clients as they gear up for mass production of the second-generation 3nm GAA (Gate-All-Around) process in the first half of this year. Success in this competitive landscape hinges on meeting the demands of major clients such as NVIDIA, Qualcomm, AMD, and others, while swiftly enhancing yields.
Industry sources report that Samsung Electronics has initiated production of prototypes using the second-generation 3nm process. Currently testing the chip’s performance and reliability, Samsung aims to achieve a yield of over 60 percent for the 3nm second-generation process within the next six months, as set by the company’s internal goals.
The first chip utilizing Samsung’s second-generation 3nm process is expected to be an Application Processor (AP) designed for wearables, including the upcoming Galaxy Watch 7 scheduled for release later this year. Using this product as a testing ground, Samsung plans to implement the second-generation 3nm process into Samsung Electronics System LSI’s Exynos 2500 for the forthcoming Galaxy S25, expected to debut next year.
Should the second-generation 3nm chips demonstrate stable yields and performance, a potential resurgence of customers who had shifted to TSMC is anticipated. Samsung is particularly eyeing a contract with Qualcomm, one of the globe’s major mobile chip companies. Currently relying on TSMC for production, Qualcomm introduced its next-generation mobile AP, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, last year.
Currently, the odds favor TSMC. Nvidia, the world’s leading Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) company, is considering relying on TSMC for numerous next-generation products scheduled for launch this year. This consideration comes after Nvidia placed an earlier order for some of Intel’s new Central Processing Unit (CPU) Meteor Lake. According to prominent news outlets, the upcoming GPU-based high-performance artificial intelligence semiconductors, such as the NVIDIA H200, B100, and AMD MI300X, set to debut this year, are expected to utilize TSMC’s 3nm process.
In the third quarter of last year, TSMC held a 57.9 percent share of the global foundry market, according to market research firm TrendForce. Samsung Electronics secured the second position with a 12.4 percent share, creating a gap of more than 40 percentage points between the two companies.
