Samsung lays out 2 nanometer semiconductor roadmap to catch up to TSMC

Samsung Electronics on Wednesday laid out a roadmap to expand its chipmaking business, including cutting-edge semiconductors, in a bid to catch up to the leader TSMC.

The South Korean tech company is perhaps best known for its smartphones, and its massive semiconductor business is its main profit driver. It makes memory chips used in data centers and laptops.

But Samsung also has chip-making operations known as foundries, which produce semiconductors for other companies that design chips, such as Qualcomm.

Earlier this year, Samsung said it would start producing chips using a 2nm process in 2025. The company has now given a more detailed roadmap, saying it will begin mass production of a 2nm process for mobile applications in 2025, then expand to high-performance computing by 2026 and cars by 2027.

The nanometer number refers to the size of each individual transistor on a chip. The smaller the transistor, the more transistors can be packed on a single semiconductor. In general, reductions in nanometer size can lead to more powerful and efficient chips.

for reference, apple The latest iPhone processors are manufactured using a 5nm process. Samsung expects smartphones to require more advanced chips in the future, and is preparing for 2025.

Samsung hopes to capitalize on the development of high-performance computing, which refers to chips used for data center training and deployment of artificial intelligence applications, thanks in part to the popularity of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. NvidiaThe market leader in artificial intelligence chips relies on foundries such as TSMC to manufacture its semiconductors.

Samsung’s foundry is some distance behind Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s largest contract manufacturer. According to Counterpoint Research, in the first quarter of this year, TSMC accounted for 59% of global semiconductor foundry revenue, while Samsung accounted for only 13%.

Samsung is now looking to catch up by boosting production capacity and laying out a roadmap for high-growth areas of the chip market.

The company reiterated that its 1.4nm process is on track to start in 2027.

Samsung also said it was continuing to expand its chipmaking capabilities, having previously announced new production lines in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, and Tyler, Texas.