Samsung is preparing for mass production of third-gen 4nm chips

Samsung is reportedly preparing to begin mass production of third-gen 4nm semiconductor chips within the next few months. According to the Korean media, the company plans to start churning out new advanced semiconductors in the first half of 2023. It has been working on improving the yield rates of the 4nm solutions for the past several months.

Samsung will use a 2.3-generation process for its third-gen 4nm chips, Business Korea reports. The publication says that the company has been able to improve the power consumption and performance of the chips while it worked on solving the yield problem, something that has been haunting it for a while. The Korean tech behemoth recently achieved 60 percent yield rates for 4nm semiconductors, which it considers good enough for beginning mass production.

Samsung improves its 4nm yield rates, prepares for third-gen mass production

Yield rates are a measure of total usable chips out of every 100 produced. A 60 percent yield rate means Samsung will be able to sell 60 out of every 100 chips it manufactures. The higher the yield rate, the lower the waste and hence the cost. Lower yield rates also affect the production capacity as fewer units are usable. Earlier reports say that the Korean firm could only achieve a yield rate of around 35 percent for its first-gen 4nm chips.

This is reportedly the primary reason for Qualcomm switching to TSMC for the production of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The Taiwanese firm has had much healthy yield rates of about 70-80 percent since the beginning. Samsung got the contract for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 but the American chipmaker went with TSMC for its recent chipsets. TSMC is also expected to get the manufacturing contract for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

Samsung, on the other hand, remains focused on further improving the yield rates of advanced semiconductors. The company has had similar problems with 3nm chips as well. Many of its big clients are switching to TSMC due to this problem. That’s despite the Korean firm beginning mass production of 3nm solutions ahead of its Taiwanese rival. It launched the new chips in June last year, while TSMC announced mass production in December.

Neither firm has started making 3nm processors for smartphones yet. Meanwhile, both Samsung and TSMC are constructing new chip factories in the US with plans to manufacture advanced semiconductors. The former’s plant is located in Taylor, Texas while the latter is building it in Phoenix, Arizona. Both new factories could be operational in the first half of 2024.