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Samsung has reportedly significantly improved the yield rate of its 4nm chips in recent months. Its 4nm yields are now on the same level as that of TSMC, and close to 5nm yields, the Korean media is reporting. These improvements may have helped it retain a few big customers, namely AMD and Google.
Samsung is one of the biggest contract chip manufacturers in the world. It is second only to TSMC in the semiconductor foundry market. However, the gap between the two is huge because of the latter’s superior chip fabrication tech and better yield. Chips manufactured by TSMC have always offered better performance and power efficiency. So much so that the Koren firm didn’t use its in-house Exynos processors in the Galaxy S23 series flagships.
Amid all this, Samsung also lost several key customers to TSMC. Most notably, Qualcomm switched to the latter for manufacturing its recent chips, including the Galaxy S23’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. However, there have been reports recently that the Korean firm is on its way to turn things around. It has improved its yield rates as well as process nodes. The latter improvements would help improve the performance and power efficiency of its chips.
A fresh report coming out of Samsung’s homeland reiterates that. It says the company’s 4nm yield rate, which is the percentage of usable chips out of the total manufactured, is comparable to TSMC’s. The Korean firm has reportedly increased its 4nm production capacity as well. This has enabled Samsung to lure back customers that were mulling switching to TSMC for manufacturing their 4nm solutions, including AMD and Google.
Samsung may be able to convince Google to stick with it in the future
Samsung has manufactured Google’s Tensor chips for Pixels smartphones since the first-gen solution in 2021. These chips use the Korean firm’s Exynos processors as their base. The Tensor G3, which will power the upcoming Piel 8 series, is a modified version of the unreleased Exynos 2300. Unsurprisingly, Samsung will manufacture it.
However, starting with the Tensor G4 next year, Google is reportedly planning to design the chips on its own. It is also considering switching to TSMC for production to take advantage of the latter’s superior fabrication process. The Pixel maker hasn’t finalized anything because TSMC has raised its prices recently. Now, with Samsung improving its process nodes and yield rates, Google may be convinced to stick with the Korean firm. At least for one more year.
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