Samsung's 2nm order has been reported to be a good news, and this time it has grabbed an order from TSMC's old customer Preferred Networks (PFN), a Japanese AI start-up.
PFN reportedly initially wanted to work with TSMC to develop future advanced artificial intelligence chips, but is now turning to Samsung, which could open the door to Silicon Valley for more important customers to side with the South Korean giant, as the Japanese company has strong ties to Nvidia and Intel.
PFN is currently the most advanced artificial intelligence company in Japan and has been working with TSMC since 2016, which has been developing supercomputer artificial intelligence chips and artificial intelligence software, and TSMC has produced two generations of processors for PFN. However, the third-generation wafer will be produced by Samsung on 2nm manufacturing.
While TSMC currently has more 2nm customers, PFN's shift could mark a reversal in Samsung's favor, given PFN's close ties to Intel and Nvidia. Seoul Economy** said the deal between Samsung Foundry and PFN would benefit both companies.
PFN uses the latest cutting-edge technology to produce wafers, while Samsung Foundry contracts the first customer to retain 2nm production. Samsung foundry may give PFN discounts, just to attract customers and keep PFN away from TSMC. Samsung's foundry is expected to start mass production of 2nm wafers in 2025.
Two years ago, due to Samsung's poor yield rate when producing the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, Qualcomm withdrew from the Samsung foundry and jumped to TSMC, making a small change to the chip, and the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 was born. Since then, TSMC has produced Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and is expected to build a Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset.
However, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 is about to change in the near future, as Qualcomm recently asked TSMC and Samsung to provide prototypes for 2nm production. There is speculation that the application processor may be purchased by two foundries, and it will be interesting to see what happens.