Samsung Electronics is in fierce competition with TSMC for chip manufacturing orders at 3nm, its first semiconductor foundry node using GAA-FET technology after nearly a decade of FinFET-based nodes. 3nm GAA-FET node SF3 will enter mass production later this year.
Samsung claims that wafer yields are between 60-70% during the development phase of the node. This number is critical to attracting customers whose wafer orders are based first on yield and second on cost per wafer.
Samsung is trying to rebuild confidence among chip designers after a controversy in 2022 about its engineering department “fabricating” yield figures to customers to win their business.
Samsung also said it will start introducing its 2nm node in 2025-2026 as 2023-2024 will be dominated by the 3nm node, known as SF3 (3GAP) and its improved version, SF3P (3GAP+).
Current customers for Samsung’s 3nm node include unnamed HPC processor designers and a mobile AP (application processor) designer.
