A few days ago, popular tech blogger, @iceuniverse revealed that Qualcomm’s flagship processors in the second half of this year and next year will be manufactured by TSMC. This means that Qualcomm is changing its foundry after using Samsung for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC. According to Qualcomm’s naming rules, Qualcomm’s flagship chip for commercial use in the second half of this year will be Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+. However, next year’s flagship processor will be Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. If the latest report is anything to go by, these chips will all use TSMC’s manufacturing process.
It is worth noting that Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 and Snapdragon 8 Gen1 uses Samsung. Previously, industry insiders claims that the yield rate of TSMC foundry is higher than that of Samsung. Taking the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus as an example, starting from the third quarter, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus has produced more than 50,000 pieces per quarter. The current yield rate now exceeds 70%. This is significantly higher than that of the Samsung OEM Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. This is one of the reasons why the company wants the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 to use TSMC’s process.
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Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 to use TSMC manufacturing process
From the point of view above, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will now go to TSMC foundry. However, the low yield may not be the only reason why the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is going to TSMC. There are also claims that TSMC’s process is more energy-efficient than Qualcomm’s. Take the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 as an example, its competition is Dimensity 9000 which uses TSMC’s 4nm process. There are reports that the latter is more energy-efficient than the former. Also, the heat control of the latter is also better than the former. These are all because of the TSMC manufacturing process that it uses.
In addition, Qualcomm has released a new generation of 5G modem Snapdragon X70. This new 5G modem will probably be integrated into Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. According to reports, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X70 is the world’s most complete 5G modem and RF system series. It provides great flexibility for terminal manufacturers to design terminals that meet the requirements of global operators.
More importantly, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X70 supports 10Gbps 5G peak download speed. Furthermore, it also brings new advanced features, such as Qualcomm 5G AI Kit, Qualcomm 5G Ultra-Low Latency Kit, and four-carrier aggregation. In summary, as Qualcomm’s most powerful 5G chip, the performance of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is expected to be very high.