Source: Finance Association
① According to Korean media reports, both Samsung and TSMC may have encountered yield problems with 3 nm process semiconductors;
② Allegedly, Samsung Electronics and TSMC's 3-nm chip yield is at around 50%;
③ Recently, it has been continuously claimed that the heating problem with the iPhone 15 series phones may be faulty in TSMC's 3 nm process.
$Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (SSNLF.US)$with$Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM.US)$They may have all encountered problems with the production of 3-nm semiconductors, but this problem has not yet been reported.
According to South Korean media ChoSunBiz quoting sources, it may be difficult for both semiconductor giants to exceed 60% on the 3-nm semiconductor yield issue, yet this level is not enough to attract the attention of hardware suppliers.
Yield is the key
Currently, according to the semiconductor industry,Samsung Electronics and TSMC's 3-nm chip yield is at around 50%.
Some industry insiders also analyzed that Samsung Electronics' 3 nm yield is over 60%, and it has already been supplied to client companies. However, judging from the specific situation of these chips, since this process omits the SRAM storage structure in the logic chip, it is difficult to regard it as a “complete 3 nm process.”
According to a person familiar with Samsung, it is necessary to win$Qualcomm (QCOM.US)$For major customers to order 3nm mobile chips next year, the yield rate needs to be raised to at least 70%.
Previously, Samsung was inferior to TSMC in terms of technology in the most advanced manufacturing fields, leading to its two major customers, Qualcomm and$NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$It began switching to TSMC to purchase next-generation chips, but Samsung is trying to win back these two customers.
At the same time, some analysts say that the optimization process of TSMC's 3-nm FinFET process is lagging behind schedule.
Earlier this year, there was news that TSMC's 3-nm semiconductor yield was around 55%. This data also made Apple discuss a cheaper semiconductor price for the A17 processor chip built into the iPhone 15 Pro.
It is worth mentioning that since Apple's iPhone 15/Pro series phones were released, they have received many reports of fever from users. Recently, some analysts claimed,The heating problem with the iPhone 15 series phones is probably due to a defect in TSMC's 3 nm process.
Analysts pointed out,TSMC used the same FinFET structure as the previous generation process in the 3 nm process, which did not control the overheating problem well. Also, some industry insiders are increasingly uncertain whether TSMC's 3 nm process is ready for market launch.
Apple, on the other hand, insists that the heating issue is purely a software issue, and has released a patch for iOS 17 to resolve this issue
If TSMC is in trouble because of this, this could be an opportunity for Samsung. As for how Samsung Electronics will gain more market share, it will depend on when it completes more advanced node processes.
Currently, both Samsung and TSMC are preparing to produce more advanced and efficient 3 nm processes in 2024 and 2025. US chipmaker Intel is also catching up with the upcoming 3-nm Sierra Forest and Granite Rapids chips.
Furthermore, all three companies are laying the foundation for a more advanced 2 nm process and hope to achieve 1 nm production by the end of this decade.
Editor/Somer