TSMC and Samsung battle fiercely for 2nm process chips with significant yield gap

In the semiconductor industry, TSMC and Samsung Electronics are in a fierce battle for 2nm chips. According to the latest reports, both companies plan to start mass production of 2nm chips in the second half of 2025, however, TSMC's advantage in terms of yield gives it a head start in the fight for orders.

TSMC has already begun receiving orders for the 2nm process, which is expected to be produced at its Hsinchu-Paoshan and Kaohsiung plants. This is the first time TSMC has adopted the wrap-around gate-array (GAA) architecture technology, which is expected to improve chip performance by 10% to 15%, reduce energy consumption by 25% to 30%, and increase transistor density by 15% over the existing 3nm process. Major customers include AMD, Apple, NVIDIA, Qualcomm and MediaTek. AMD's EPYC processor Venice has become the first high performance computing product based on TSMC's 2nm process.

In contrast, Samsung's 2nm production program is also underway and is expected to be used for the Exynos 2600 processor in its new flagship Galaxy S26. However, Samsung's yields are currently only about 40 percent, well below TSMC's 60 percent, making it challenging for Samsung to attract orders. Although Samsung is the first company to use the GAA architecture to produce 3nm chips, but it still needs to overcome a lot of difficulties in yield improvement.

In order to enhance competitiveness, Samsung has introduced the former TSMC executives Han Meiling (Margaret Han) to lead its foundry department, and strive to make a breakthrough in the 2nm process. Nevertheless, yield improvement is still a major problem for Samsung.

With TSMC in the 2nm process yields continue to improve, is expected to further consolidate its leadership in the global semiconductor market, and may lead to the growth of the related industry chain.