Despite its inability to obtain an extreme ultraviolet lithography machine (U.S. and Dutch sanctions, you know), China’s SMIC is in third place and was just 3.3 percentage points behind Samsung Foundry during the third quarter of this year. That compares to the 5.8% lead Samsung Foundry held over SMIC during the second quarter of 2024.
Even though Samsung Foundry was the first to use Gate-all-around (GAA) transistors with its 3nm node (TSMC will start using GAA next year with its 2nm production), Samsung Foundry hasn’t seen much demand for its services at 3nm. GAA transistors use vertically placed horizontal nanosheets allowing the gate to cover the channel on all four sides. This reduces current leakage and improves the drive current resulting in chips with enhanced performance and better energy efficiency.
Samsung Foundry has a two-part plan to help it battle TSMC and stay ahead of SMIC. | Image credit-Samsung Foundry
While it sounds like a plan, whether both parts can be accomplished is not known. And even if both parts can be done, it still isn’t known whether this plan can make Samsung Foundry more of a threat to TSMC while allowing it to pull away from SMIC.
