It is noticed that the 4nm process used by Samsung Semiconductor has been criticized a lot because it is far less efficient than TSMC used to manufacture Apple A16, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, MediaTek Dimensity 9000 and Nvidia RTX 4000 4nm process for its GPU series, which Samsung Semiconductor uses to manufacture the Exynos 2200 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipsets.

Samsung Semiconductor’s SF3 chip manufacturing process will use 3nm GAP technology, an improved version of the SF3E process, which is used to manufacture chips in the second half of 2022. The new process relies on Samsung’s improved GAA (gate all around) transistors, which the company calls MBCFETs (multi-bridge channel field-effect transistors). This node promises further optimizations compared to SF4 (second-generation 4nm), but the company did not make direct comparisons to its first-generation 3nm process. SF3 is said to be 22% faster at the same power consumption, or 34% lower power consumption at the same clock speed and transistor count, and also enables a 21% smaller logic area.

Typically, Samsung’s first-generation chip manufacturing process is not widely used, while subsequent generations are used by various chip companies. Based on Samsung Semiconductor’s track record, its second-generation 3nm chip manufacturing technology is likely to be used by at least one major chip customer. There are rumors that the Exynos 2500 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 may use the SF3 process.

The company’s fourth-generation 4nm process, aimed at high-performance computing applications such as server CPUs and GPUs, offers a 10% performance boost and 23% lower power consumption compared to SF4 (second-generation 4nm) reduce. The new process will compete with TSMC’s N4P (second-generation 4nm) and N4X (third-generation 4nm) nodes, which are due in 2024 and 2025, respectively. According to AnandTech, Samsung Semiconductor’s SF4X is the company’s first node targeting high-performance computing in recent years.

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Samsung Electronics 12 announced in the “Samsung Electronics Business Report” shows that Samsung will start mass production of 4nm-based 2.3 generation chips in the first half of this year.

This is the first time Samsung Electronics mentioned the specific mass production time of the 4nm successor version. Compared with the earlier version of the 4nm chip SF4E, the second and third generation products have shown better performance, but also brought lower power consumption and smaller area.

However, Samsung Electronics in SF4E chip commercialization after the chip yield management also encountered a series of problems, and ultimately because of poor energy performance coupled with capacity constraints will be a major customer Qualcomm gave up to TSMC.

Industry insiders estimate that the current 4-nanometer process yield of Samsung Electronics can reach 60%, while TSMC yield of the same type can reach 70 ~ 80%. Experts believe that Samsung Electronics yields are rapidly improving, and mass production of subsequent products is accelerating.

As Samsung Electronics continues to make breakthroughs in advanced processes to ensure production capacity under the premise of improved performance, it is expected to further compete with TSMC in mass production of processes above the 5nm level.

The most advanced semiconductor process is the 3nm level, but both TSMC and Samsung’s current main products are still 4nm and 5nm.

According to market research firm Counterpoint Research, as of the third quarter of last year, 4nm and 5nm processes accounted for the highest sales ratio, reaching 22%, more than the 6nm and 7nm processes of 16% and 16, 14 and 12nm processes of 11%.

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