Samsung says that its foundry yields are improving
Last month, word got out that Samsung Foundry was experiencing a poor 35% yield on the production of Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chips. That means that only 35% of the chips cut from a wafer could pass Quality Control. TSMC, manufacturing the 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus, has been able to achieve a 70% production yield.
Samsung's performance has so upset Qualcomm that the San Diego-based chip designer is reportedly in talks with TSMC about moving its business back to the Taiwan-based foundry from Samsung. Of course, Samsung isn't going to let Qualcomm walk away without a fight. During Sammy's recent stockholder's meeting, Samsung Devices Solutions division CEO Kyehyun Kyung said that the firm's foundries are improving its yields on cutting-edge process nodes.
Samsung wouldn't confirm the 35% yield rate for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip and TSMC is going to be busy if Qualcomm does indeed switch back to the world's largest contract foundry for future Application Processor chips. With Apple responsible for a leading 26% of TSMC's revenue, the tech giant has probably reserved a large chunk of 3nm production for next generation A-series and M-series chips.
MediaTek's Dimensity 9000 SoC has outscored the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in benchmark tests
Even if Samsung's yields are improving, Qualcomm needs to be smart here, especially with a chip shortage. Low yields reduce the number of chips available for use. Kyung notes that the more advanced the process node, the more complex the production of a chip is. According to Digitimes Asia, the executive says that as a result, it is going to take time before Samsung is able to really make some headway on improving its yield on 4nm-5nm SoCs.
But truthfully, Samsung might not have that time since Qualcomm is already planning to take the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+ and perhaps the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 to TSMC. And Qualcomm itself has MediaTek and the Dimensity 9000 SoC to deal with. Interesting times are ahead in the semiconductor industry as the 3nm process node is straight ahead.
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