Samsung says it will start making second-generation 2nm chips this year

When it announced its quarterly earnings earlier today, Samsung shared additional details about its 2nm semiconductor chip fabrication process. It began mass production of its first-generation 2nm chips last year and plans to start manufacturing second-generation 2nm chips this year.

In its press release outlining financial performance for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2025, Samsung said its foundry division will begin ramping up production of its second-generation 2nm chip process, known as SF2P, in 2026. This timeline aligns with the long-term roadmap the company presented in 2022.

The Exynos 2600 is the first high-volume chip produced using the company’s first-generation 2nm process. It is expected to power millions of Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+ smartphones. Second-generation processes typically deliver improvements in performance and power efficiency, so chips manufactured using Samsung Foundry’s second-generation 2nm technology could offer further gains.

According to some reports, Samsung Foundry may fabricate a custom version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 later this year using its second-generation 2nm process. The Exynos 2700, reportedly featuring a better heat dissipation solution, could also be made using this newer 2nm technology. Both those chips could be used in the Galaxy S27 series in early 2027.

Samsung has struggled in recent years to secure customers for its most advanced process nodes, lagging far behind its rival TSMC. However, the company’s outlook improved after securing an order from Tesla to manufacture its AI6 chip using the 2nm node. AMD and Qualcomm are now reportedly considering Samsung’s 2nm process for some of their future chips.