The 2nm node is fast becoming the next battleground for chipmakers and the Samsung Foundry appears to be on the point of winning orders from some of the industry’s biggest players, with reports that Samsung has entered the final phase of 2nm performance testing with NVIDIA GPUs and Qualcomm APs.
With the experience gleaned from its first GAA-based node, 3nm, appearing to be paying off - yields have reportedly topped 60% - 2nm yields are said to have now climbed past 40%.
Reports suggest that the Qualcomm AP in question could be the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2. While TSMC is set to produce it on 3nm in the second half of 2025, Samsung is looking at a 2nm version that could debut in Galaxy phones by the second half of 2026.
If Samsung is successful, it would be its first Qualcomm smartphone AP order in three years. The company’s progress with NVIDIA is less clear cut, but both Qualcomm and NVIDIA are working with Samsung and TSMC as part of a diversification strategy.
Whatever the situation Samsung is facing an uphill struggle. Its 2nm process may be reporting yields of over 40%, but TSMC’s yields are nearing 80% and volume production is due to begin before the end of the year.
As a result, Samsung will be under mounting pressure to significantly boost its yield rates by the second half of this year to remain competitive and that’s a ‘big ask’ for the company.
