Samsung’s 4nm Yield Soars: Doubles to 70% in 2022 at Foundry

Good news for Samsung Foundry! The company’s yield on 4nm production has increased to 70%. This means that 70% of the dies produced on a silicon wafer passed Quality Control and were good enough to ship. This is a big change from early 2022, when reports indicated that the yield was only 35%.

This improvement has led to new business for Samsung Foundry. For example, AMD’s new ‘Zen 5c’ server chips, known by the codename Prometheus, have started production using Samsung Foundry’s 4nm node. Traditionally, AMD has had its chips built by TSMC but is now looking to work with both of the world’s top two foundries.

One reason for using both TSMC and Samsung Foundry simultaneously is that AMD is planning to offer high-end and entry-level versions of the chips. Another possibility is that AMD sees TSMC’s 3nm process node as being similar to Samsung’s 4nm node in terms of performance.

Samsung Foundry’s improved yields could also lead to the company receiving an order from AMD based on its 3nm Gate All Around (GAA) node. This technology reduces current leaks and increases the drive current, leading to improved chip performance.

The increased production capacity and high yields at Samsung Foundry have also attracted large European customers, and the company’s Exynos 2400 application processor has gone into production, expected to power the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ in all markets outside of the U.S. and China. Samsung is reportedly going to use new packaging technology that can improve the thermals and the performance of its chipset.

With TSMC unable to handle orders for the entire industry due to capacity issues, Samsung Foundry’s improved yields and production capacity could lead to it winning more business and taking orders away from TSMC. This is a significant opportunity for Samsung Foundry to grow its influence in the semiconductor industry.