Samsung Foundry confirms roadmap: 2nm chips in 2025, 1.4nm chips in 2027

Last October, Samsung Foundry's roadmap revealed that it will start mass production of chips using its 2nm process node by 2025, and two years later it will start work on a 1.4nm process node. Per CNBC, Samsung this morning confirmed the roadmap adding a little more information about the breakdown of its 2nm production starting in two years. 

Rival TSMC and Samsung are the only firms currently at 3nm and wafer costs associated with the production of such chips is limiting their use in smartphones this year to the A17 Bionic SoC. That chip will be found powering the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max as soon as this coming September.

The smaller the process node, the smaller the feature set in chips including transistors. Smaller transistors mean that more of them can fit inside a chip and the higher a chip's transistor count the more powerful and energy efficient it is. As a quick example, the iPhone 11 line used the 7nm A13 Bionic which contained 8.5 billion transistors. The iPhone 14 Pro models are equipped with the A16 Bionic which is manufactured using TSMC's third 5nm enhancement which is dubbed "4nm." Those chips each contain 16 billion transistors.

Samsung is trying to catch up to industry leader TSMC which collected 59% of global semiconductor foundry revenue in the first quarter of this year according to Counterpoint Research. Samsung Foundry was a distant second responsible for 13% of global revenue. Apple is believed to contribute 25% of TSMC's annual revenue.

While TSMC and Samsung Foundry are shipping 3nm chips, Sammy's chips use gate-all-around (GAA) transistors which allow the gate to come into contact with all sides of the channel reducing voltage leaks and delivering a greater drive current. TSMC is still using FinFET transistors on its 3nm chips which have the gate come into contact with the channel on three sides. TSMC will switch over to GAA when it debuts its 2nm production in 2025.

Samsung says that the first 2nm chips it produces in 2025 will be designed for use in mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. In 2026, the 2nm process node will also be manufactured for use in high-performance computing, and in the following year, these advanced chips will be produced for use in automobiles.

The company also announced that it is expanding its chip manufacturing capacity by adding production lines in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, and Taylor, Texas.