Samsung to start mass production of 3rd-gen 4nm chips

Could win back Qualcomm and Tesla

Samsung Electronics is set to start mass production of third-generation 4-nanometer (nm) chips in the first half of 2023, which could help the company win back some of its lost customers.

Samsung had been facing challenges in stabilising its yield rate, but according to Business Korea, the company seems to have resolved this obstacle.

The Korean tech giant has now made significant advancements in terms of performance, power consumption and area improvement compared to the initial process.

The development is expected to help the firm attract large corporate customers.

Samsung will commence mass production of 4nm chips using a 2.3-generation process, according to the report.

Compared to the early version of 4nm chips, called SF4E, the second- and third-generation products demonstrate better performance, lower power consumption and occupy smaller areas.

Despite the commercialisation of the SF4E chip, Samsung Electronics encountered challenges in managing the chip's yields, which resulted in the loss of its biggest customer, Qualcomm, to TSMC.

More recently, the company also lost Tesla's significant 4nm chip order to TSMC.

For this reason, the improvements in the yield of third-generation 4nm chips were critical for the South Korean firm.

Since successfully stabilising the yields of its 4nm process in 2022, Samsung has been able to steadily increase its production capacity.

According to industry insiders, the current yield is estimated to be around 60%.

Although that is not yet on par with TSMC's, which is believed to be in the range of 70-80%, analysts believe that Samsung's yield is improving, and mass production of the next version is also accelerating.

The most advanced semiconductor process technology currently available is 3nm, although the main products in use are still 4- and 5-nm chips.

TSMC intends to kick off mass production of 4nm chips at its plant in Phoenix, Arizona, which is expected to start operations in 2024.

Samsung is also constructing a 4nm production line at its foundry plant in Taylor, Texas, with the aim of starting operations in the latter half of 2024.

In June 2022, Samsung announced it had begun the initial production of its 3nm process node, using Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistor architecture.

"Samsung has grown rapidly as we continue to demonstrate leadership in applying next-generation technologies to manufacturing, such as foundry industry's first High-K Metal Gate, FinFET, as well as EUV," Dr. Siyoung Choi, president and head of foundry business at Samsung Electronics, said at the time.

"We seek to continue this leadership with the world's first 3nm process with the MBCFET.

"We will continue active innovation in competitive technology development and build processes that help expedite achieving maturity of technology," Choi added.

In 2021, Samsung recorded $82.3 billion in revenue, surpassing Intel and reclaiming its position as the world's top chipmaker.

Intel, which was in second place, reported $79 billion in sales.