Samsung’s Poor 3nm Yields Have Pushed Clients Like Qualcomm and MediaTek Toward TSMC
According to South Korean outlet Chosun Biz, Samsung’s 3nm yields are hovering around 50% for its 3nm process. In comparison, TSMC, its largest and arguably only rival in the foundry space, has nearly perfected the node, closing in on 90% yield. This discrepancy has allowed top clients to shift to TSMC, and the foundry, in return, seeing a lack of competition, has been able to set premium pricing for its foundry services. Samsung has managed to secure Google for its upcoming Tensor G5 SoC, but the move comes nearly three years after the first 3nm produced chips entered the consumer market. Recently, Samsung has secured Nintendo for producing the Switch 2‘s chips, but those are mainly based on more mature 8nm nodes. In that space, China’s SMIC has seen decent progress and is increasingly attracting domestic clients. According to the report, it’s unusual for a foundry to see such low yield numbers for such a large time, which is why companies like Apple, AMD, Qualcomm, and MediaTek have all chosen to prefer TSMC over the “riskier” Samsung option. Samsung is pushing to put its chips in its mainstream smartphone line, with the Fold 7 expected to use the in-house Exynos 2500. For Google as well, Samsung Foundry is certain to be manufacturing the Tensor line for at least the next four years. This is all we know for now, but rest assured that we will keep you updated as new information becomes available.
