TSMC may be the leading force in the foundry business nowadays, but Samsung is keen to overcome the Taiwanese firm. The company lost big partners like Qualcomm in the past, but the future is open as the world moves to the new 3nm standard. As per a new report, the Korean firm is all set to unveil its new 3nm standard as well as a new take on the 4nm foundry. The details about the tech will be revealed at the VLSI Symposium 2023 in June. The firm will show the advantages of its SF3 and SF4X processes.
Samsung promises a 22% speed increase on the new 3nm process over the 4nm (SF4) LPP tech
As per the reports, the SF3 process will use Samsung’s 3nm GAP tech and will rely on GAA, or Gate All Around transistor. The manufacturer refers to it as MBCFETs or Multi-Bridge-Channel Field-Effect Transistors. This should bring further improvements to SF3. However, Samsung does not compare the gains over the first generation of 3nm. Perhaps, we won’t see a big increase over the first generation. But still, any improvement is still an improvement.
The new SF4X stands as Samsung’s fourth-generation 4nm process. It offers a 10% gain in performance and a 23% gain in power efficiency when we look at the SF4. To recall, the SF4 was Samsung’s 2nd-gen 4nm process. The SF4X is in development to compete with TSMC’s N4P node. Despite the expectations, it seems that Qualcomm and MediaTek will stick with the 4nm process for another year. The N4P tech is expected on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and on the Dimensity 9300.
Going back to the 3nm tech, the SF3 process will be 22% faster than the SF4. It will also operate at the same power limit and is 34% more efficient when running at the same frequency and transistor count. There is also a 21% reduction in the logic area. There is no info on a possible list of clients interested in this tech. However, we have rumors about Qualcomm getting chips from both TSMC and Samsung. In fact, Samsung could be a valuable partner for some companies. After all, TSMC is reportedly busy with Apple’s A17 and M3 series chips.
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AMD is reportedly partnering with Samsung for the 4nm chips. We expect more info to emerge as the June event draws near. There are rumors about Samsung’s comeback to the flagship smartphone chipset market. We don’t know yet if it will come next year as the Exynos 2400. But whenever it comes, there is a big chance that it will use the company’s 3nm process.
Of Course, we can’t forget Google which should keep being a strong partner for Samsung in the Tensor series.
Samsung to develop a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 For Galaxy
As per reports from insider Revegnus, Qualcomm could be looking to dual-source future Snapdragon chips from both TSMC and Samsung. The Korean firm wafer output is doing pretty well, and this has been “touching” Qualcomm’s heart. As per the report, Qualcomm and the Korean firm are working together to create a variation of high-end Snapdragon 8 chips. The plan could come to fruiting at the beginning of 2024. If that is the case, then we may see a regular Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 coming from TSMC’s N3E process – the second generation of the company’s 3nm tech.
Meanwhile, the variant for the Galaxy S25 series could come from Samsung with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 For the Galaxy name. The rumors about Qualcomm’s dual-source strategy are floating for quite some time, and this seems to make perfect sense for the company.
One could ask why most of the 3nm plans are heading to 2025 and not 2024. Apparently, most of the firms in the segment will stick with 4nm for another year. Apple reserved about 90% of TSMC’s manufacturing capabilities for its 3nm chips. The company’s Apple A17 Bionic is set to be the only 3nm chipset of 2023, and looking at the current look of things, it could also be the only 3nm on smartphones until 2025.