Samsung Foundry Achieves "Perfect Level" 3nm Yield Rates, Levelling up to TSMC

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A representative from Samsung said that the 3nm GAA process used by the Korean company had achieved "perfect level" manufacturing yields. TSMC was previously said to have an 80 percent yield rate, while Samsung was at a rather underwhelming 10 percent. With this advancement, Qualcomm and MediaTek may get motivated to create smartphone SoCs using this next technique.

appuals.com, Jan. 10, 2023 – 

With Samsung and TSMC Now Head-to-Head in Terms of Yield Rates, Qualcomm May Need to Choose a Supplier Quickly

Due to the exorbitant cost of wafers, it was previously claimed that Qualcomm wasn't convinced it wanted to mass-build the next Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 using the 3nm technology. When Apple introduces the A17 Bionic for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Ultra, this choice will provide the company with a significant advantage. The Korea Economic Daily reports that Samsung's 3nm GAA process is producing higher yields. This can only indicate that Qualcomm and MediaTek may have second thoughts about their intention to mass manufacture cutting-edge silicon.

However, Qualcomm intends to use a dual-sourcing strategy to reduce its wafer costs for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, thus Samsung still has to bridge the yield rate gap with TSMC to start getting orders. This can only be done if TSMC and Samsung have comparable yield rates; otherwise, Qualcomm would be forced to continue using its Taiwanese foundry partner for the bulk of orders, which will increase the cost of wafers for the San Diego company.

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