Samsung is reportedly struggling to increase yields of 3nm GAA chips, which are said to be three times lower than the recommended threshold to begin mass production.

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By Maya Cantina

The introduction of 3nm GAA The technology began in 2022 when Samsung said it had started mass production of its cutting-edge manufacturing process, which would bring a wave of performance and efficiency advantages over the company’s 5nm node. Fast forward to 2024 and almost to 2025, and the Korean giant is struggling to improve yields and is finding every possible solution to get out of the hole it has dug itself into. One report claims that despite a plethora of efforts, 3nm GAA yields are three times lower than the minimum threshold required for mass production.

Failure to increase 3nm GAA yields will result in Samsung losing AI chip orders, with companies like Qualcomm likely to take a backseat

A report from the Korea Times mentions that Samsung’s 3nm GAA yields were in single digits during the first quarter of 2024. Slowly, the company has shown successful progress, bringing that number to 20 percent. Unfortunately, while this is an improvement, Korean analysts estimate that Samsung needs to increase this number to 60% to start mass production, as its old customers like Qualcomm start to show faith.

A low yield will not only result in expensive wafers, but it will increase the time it takes for customers to receive their due chip shipments, which would explain why TSMC is the preferred choice for many. The 2nm GAA route is also not going well, with a separate report mentioning that Samsung was forced to withdraw personnel from its Taylor factory located in Texas due to abysmal yields that were in the range of 10-20 percent.

The Korean tech giant is scrambling to find a solution to these ongoing setbacks, as its 3nm GAA technology will be beneficial to companies like NVIDIA, which will leverage the manufacturing process for its AI GPUs. Unfortunately, it won’t matter much if these yields don’t improve, and if this continues, Samsung may also be forced to launch its upcoming Galaxy S25 family. exclusively with Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.

News source: Korea Times

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