Samsung chases after TSMC in 2nm mass production this year

Samsung has pinned its hopes on the 2nm manufacturing process after the 3nm node didn't turn out as well as the company would have hoped. It has struggled to win any meaningful orders from major chip designers, while TSMC has enjoyed absolute dominance on this node.

Both foundries are now rushing to begin mass production on their 2nm nodes before the end of this year. Samsung would be hoping that it succeeds in stealing orders away from TSMC to turn the fortunes around for its semiconductor division.

According to reports, TSMC is expected to begin mass production on its 2nm process at its Baoshan and Kaohsiung factories in Taiwan later this year. TSMC will be the first foundry to apply gate-all-around or GAA technology to the 2nm node. Samsung was the first to apply GAA to the 3nm node.

Multiple reports have suggested that TSMC's 2nm yields have already hit up to 70%, putting it in a very favorable position to begin mass production. Major chip designers like Apple, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and AMD are all believed to be considering its 2nm process for their chip production needs.

Samsung's prior experience with GAA may help it in stabilizing the technology for the 2nm node. The company currently targets 2nm mass production for the second half of this year. Samsung has won 2nm chipmaking orders from Preferred Networks, an AJ firm based in Japan, in addition to making its own Exynos 2600 chip.

It remains to be seen, though, if Samsung is able to revive confidence in its foundry for the likes of NVIDIA and Qualcomm to return.