Samsung Electronics' foundry division successfully secured orders for their 2-nanometer AI chips, according to the company's fourth-quarter 2023 financial report. At first, the customer's details were kept secret. Later it was revealed that the client is Preferred Networks, a Japanese AI startup that was founded in 2014 and specialized in deep learning technology, according to later reporting by Business Korea. This partnership demonstrates Preferred Networks' strong support from key Japanese industrial companies, including Toyota, NTT, and Fanuc. The order also includes sophisticated packaging solutions and High Bandwidth Memory (HBM).
Anticipated to launch in 2025, Samsung's next 2-nanometer SF2 technology is intended to significantly improve performance and efficiency. At equal frequency and complexity levels, the SF2 offers a 25% increase in power efficiency over Samsung's second-generation 3-nanometer technology. It also provides a 5% reduction in chip size and a 12% boost in performance at the same power consumption. Samsung's Foundry Forum plan states that the SF2 process will start mass production in 2025 with a focus on mobile applications, expand to high-performance computing applications in 2026, and be modified for automotive applications before further shrinking to a 1.4nm process by 2027.
In the semiconductor foundry industry, competition is also intensifying. Leading rival TSMC has already shown important customers like Apple and NVIDIA what its 2-nanometer prototype is capable of. Apple is expected to be the first to use TSMC's 2-nanometer technology, putting the company at the head of this race for advanced process technology, with plans to begin mass production by 2025. In addition, Samsung is putting itself in a position to strategically upend the industry by charging less for its 2-nanometer technology than rivals. The goal of TSMC's aggressive pricing strategy is to get businesses like Qualcomm, a devoted client, to think about moving a portion of the manufacture of their flagship chips to Samsung's more affordable 2-nanometer process.