Samsung Foundry and TSMC are the only companies in the world capable of making chips using advanced fabrication processes. While Samsung Foundry started the production of semiconductor chips using its first-generation 3nm GAA process in the second half of 2022, TSMC has just begun making 3nm chips for Apple. Since Apple has booked almost all of TSMC's 3nm production capacity, other brands could turn to Samsung for their advanced chips.
According to a report from DigiTimes, Apple has booked almost 90% of TSM's total 3nm chip production capacity for 2023. This production capacity will be used to manufacture Apple's A17 Bionic for iPhones and M3 series chips for iPad Pros and Macs. So, the other brands like Qualcomm and MediaTek could either fight for the remaining 10% capacity or turn to Samsung Foundry. It has already been rumored that AMD and Google could use Samsung Foundry to produce their 4nm chips.
This is Samsung Foundry's golden chance to get clients for its 3nm and 4nm chip production nodes
This leaves clients like MediaTek and Qualcomm. Since Qualcomm sells a lot more high-end chips than MediaTek, it might need much more production capacity for its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. Hence it could use Samsung Foundry's improved 4nm or second-generation 3nm fabrication process.
Although Samsung has been lagging behind TSMC in semiconductor chip manufacturing efficiency, some experts expect Samsung to close the gap this year with its 3nm GAA process, as it uses a newer transistor design that offers a major bump in power efficiency and density. If Samsung can improve the yield by the end of this year, it could gain a lot in terms of business from clients like Qualcomm, AMD, Google, and others.
Only time will tell whether Samsung Foundry gets clients for its 3nm process and if it is actually as good as it was rumored. Getting clients is extremely important for Samsung as its chip business has been under criticism for lower yield and higher power consumption compared to TSMC's equivalent processes.
