At the moment, the 5-nanometer process technology is the most advanced in the foundry, which has been mastered by chipmakers. Next year they promise a transition to the rails of 4-nanometer technology, and the first chips with its use should be Dimensity 2000 and Snapdragon 898. Moreover, the MediaTek product can become a leader in this race.
The next step is the 3-nanometer process technology. Samsung introduced the 3GAE (3nm Gate-All-Around Early) and 3GAP (3nm Gate-All-Around Plus) nodes a couple of years ago, promising significant power savings and improved overall performance. Introducing the technology in 2019, the company stated that the 3nm process technology will be able to offer a 35% increase in performance with a 50% reduction in energy consumption compared to the 7LPP process technology.
Initially, it was expected that trial production could start from day to day, but now it has been reported that Samsung is postponing it until 2022. The company also plans to release 2nm chips, but not earlier than 2025. Interestingly, TSMC previously announced that mass production of processors using the 3nm process technology will begin no earlier than 2023. Plans are underway to release a 4nm chip for the iPhone in 2022.
The postponement of the introduction of the new technical process is due to the fact that the chip makers face a more important task – to cope with the shortage of chips. The priorities are to satisfy the demand for processors, not to rush to introduce new technologies.
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Samsung aims to double chip production by 2026
At the moment, many industries are suffering from a global semiconductor shortage. The cost of chips is growing, and so are the delivery times. Nevertheless, all the semiconductor products manufactured are sold; and therefore all major chip makers are investing more and more in increasing production volumes and introducing advanced technologies; and Samsung is no exception. The company says it intends to double its chip production by 2026.
Samsung, one of the world’s top three chip makers, announced earlier this year that it plans to spend $ 17 billion to build new manufacturing facilities in the United States by the end of 2023. At the moment, the company has only one facility in the United States; a plant in Austin, which produces 65- and 14-nm products. The location of the new enterprise has not yet been disclosed; nor has it been announced what products will be produced there. In addition, Samsung has four semiconductor factories in South Korea, as well as chip testing and packaging centers.
As part of the Samsung Foundry Forum 2021 event this week; the company announced its intention to nearly double its chip production from 2021 to 2026. Using 2017 as a starting point, Samsung said that through the launch of the S3 and S4 factories; as well as the first phase of the S5, it has so far managed to increase the scale of chip production by 1.8 times. By 2026, when the second phase of the S5 plant launch; the chip production will be about 3.2 times higher than in 2017.
