Samsung Foundry, the foundry division of Samsung Electronics, has signed contracts with Nvidia, Qualcomm, IBM, Baidu and other companies to make chips for them using 3nm process technology, according to a South Korean media report.
At the end of June 2021, Samsung officially announced the successful flow of 3nm, and the success of the flow means that it is only one step away from mass production. On June 30 this year, the company officially announced the successful mass production of 3nm, and the first 3nm wafers shipped on July 25 this year.
Previously, it was reported that Samsung’s 3nm process had encountered difficulties. Since the mass production, the process yield does not exceed 20%, the volume production progress is bottlenecked. Samsung said it will work with Silicon Frontline Technology to find a solution.
Foreign media reports said Samsung Foundry is expected to supply 3nm wafers to the chipmaker from 2024 at the earliest.
It is worth noting that, unlike TSMC’s 3nm process, Samsung’s 3nm process uses more advanced GAA transistors instead of finned field effect transistors (FinFETs).
TSMC’s 3nm foundry price has now reportedly exceeded $20,000. However, due to the company’s dominant position in chip manufacturing and the current lack of competition in the 3nm process market, the company will significantly increase the price of its 3nm wafers.
