Samsung 2nm yields lagging

Samsung’s 2-nanometer chip process is still yielding only about 55% usable chips, according to recent industry reports, leaving its next factory ramp under pressure. (trendforce.com) Yield is the share of good chips that come off a silicon wafer, and low yield makes each chip more expensive because more of the wafer is lost. TrendForce, citing Busan Ilbo, said Samsung’s 2nm yields remain in the mid-50% range, below the roughly 60% level usually associated with stable mass production. (trendforce.com) The same report said effective yield can fall to around 40% after backend processing, the packaging and testing steps that come after the wafer is made. Business Korea separately reported that Samsung’s 2nm yield was in the low-20% range in the second half of 2025 and has improved since then, but still sits short of the stable-production threshold. (trendforce.com) (businesskorea.co.kr) Samsung has been telling customers for more than a year that SF2, its 2nm node, would start with mobile chips in 2025, then expand to high-performance computing in 2026 and automotive chips in 2027. Samsung said in 2023 that SF2 would deliver 12% higher performance, 25% better power efficiency and 5% smaller area than its 3nm process. (news.samsung.com) That timetable now matters because the foundry market is moving into a new transistor design called gate-all-around, which wraps the switch more tightly to cut power leakage at very small sizes. Samsung’s 2nm SF2 uses gate-all-around, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is using the same basic approach for N2. (semiconductor.samsung.com) (tsmc.com) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. says its N2 process is on track for volume production in the second half of 2025, with N2P following in the second half of 2026. TrendForce’s April 14 report said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s 2nm yields have already exceeded 80%, a gap that could shape customer decisions on cost and delivery risk. (tsmc.com) (trendforce.com) Intel is also trying to win advanced-chip customers with its 18A process, which the company says is ready for customer projects and offers up to 15% better performance per watt than Intel 3. That leaves Samsung competing on three fronts at once: fixing yield, filling capacity and convincing customers its roadmap will hold. (intel.com) Reports in South Korea say Qualcomm is weighing whether to keep some future chip orders with Samsung or shift them to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. if Samsung’s yields do not improve. Samsung has not publicly confirmed those customer discussions, and foundry contracts are often split across suppliers until production economics are clearer. (trendforce.com) (businesskorea.co.kr) For Samsung, the next test is simple and expensive: turn more of each 2nm wafer into working chips before customers lock in their 2026 and 2027 designs. (digitimes.com)