Qualcomm: TSMC may not be able to monopolize orders for processes below 3nm

According to thelec, Qualcomm recently stated at the Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit in 2022 that 3nm and 4nm AP chips will be manufactured by TSMC in the future. supplier strategy.

It is reported that last year, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 was originally manufactured by Samsung, but it began to switch to TSMC in the second half of last year. At that time, the market believed that the main reason for Samsung’s loss of orders was the influence of factors such as 4nm process yield and production capacity supply. Qualcomm has now handed over both its 4nm and 3nm chips to TSMC, the world's largest wafer foundry.

Regarding the order plan for advanced processes after 3 and 2 nanometers, Qualcomm said that it will continue to maintain a cooperative relationship with Samsung foundries. As the technology matures, it will cooperate with Samsung, TSMC and other foundries. Using multiple foundries has advantages not only in supply, but also in price and scale. This means that TSMC will not necessarily be able to take Qualcomm's advanced process orders alone in the future.

It is reported that Samsung took the lead in using the GAA structure on the 3nm chip. Although TSMC has started 3nm chip production, these chips use a FinFET structure instead of GAA. TSMC plans to apply the GAA structure from 2nm.