For the time being, Moore’s Law, the observation made by semiconductor legend Gordon Moore, remains alive. Moore, the co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel, originally noted in 1965 that the number of transistors inside an integrated circuit (IC) would double every year. He later revised that in the 1970s by stating that the transistor count would double every other year.
Samsung is the first to start shipping 3nm GAA chipsets which replaces the previous generation 5nm FinFET chips
With GAA, there is more control over current flow resulting in greater power efficiency. TSMC is still using the previous generation FinFET transistor design for its 3nm SoCs which it will start shipping during the second half of this year. The world’s leading independent foundry will start using GAA with its 2nm process node which it hopes to start delivering to customers in 2026.
Eventually, the 3nm GAA process node will be used to produce smartphone chips including Samsung’s own Exynos 2300 and possibly the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoCs. The 3nm GAA process node will reduce power consumption by up to 45% and increase performance by as much as 23% when compared to the 5nm node. A second generation variant of the 3nm GAA chips is expected to reduce energy consumption by up to 50%, and increase performance by up to 30%.
What this will mean to you is the availability of more powerful handsets with improved battery life.
In a release, Samsung said, “On the 25th, Samsung Electronics held a 3nm foundry product shipment ceremony using next-generation transistor GAA (Gate All Around) technology at the V1 line (EUV only) at Hwaseong Campus, Gyeonggi-do. The event was attended by about 100 people including Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Changyang Lee, suppliers, fabless, Samsung Electronics DS division head, Kyeong-hyeon Kye (President), and executives and employees, and encouraged executives and employees who participated in 3nm GAA R&D and mass production.”
