Qualcomm’s 3nm chip may collaborate with TSMC and Samsung A powerful alliance!

Qualcomm's 3nm chip may collaborate with TSMC and Samsung, forming a powerful alliance

【Phoneauto News】The development of Qualcomm’s 3nm chip may bring cooperation among three major tech giants. Although the launch of this chip is still a year away, the development process involving design and assembly will start early. In order to promote this process, Qualcomm is reported to be collaborating with TSMC and Samsung.

This is very interesting because Qualcomm currently only collaborates with TSMC. This chip design and manufacturing company previously had a business relationship with Samsung, but later severed ties. However, the upcoming 3nm chip from Qualcomm may be a collaboration between Samsung and TSMC.

Although this may seem like a surprising move, it is not uncommon in the tech industry for manufacturers to source materials from different suppliers. There may be several reasons why Qualcomm is partnering with TSMC and Samsung to produce its upcoming chips. Reasons include the potential improvement in performance of the 3nm wafer factories and cost savings in production.

• Sony Smartphone market recovery will be delayed until 2024, slower than expected
• Oneplus Ace 2 Pro will be the first in the world to launch with 24GB of memory, becoming a technology popularizer
• In 2023, the estimated shipment of flexible OLED screens for mobile phones is expected to reach 491 million units, with a growth rate exceeding 25%

An analysis by Guo Mingchi recently revealed why Qualcomm’s upcoming chips may involve dual sourcing. Other reports also indicate that Qualcomm is testing new chips using Samsung’s 3nm GAA technology. These chips have shown significant improvements compared to Samsung’s 4nm chips.

Since Samsung’s 4nm manufacturing process does not meet Qualcomm’s requirements, the company has shifted its focus elsewhere. This led to the situation where the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Gen 2 processors adopted TSMC’s 4nm process. However, with Samsung’s improvements in the 4nm process, Qualcomm may consider collaborating with them again.

In addition, there is a need to reduce the production cost of the 3nm chips. The development cost of chips using the new 3nm process will affect Qualcomm’s upcoming processors. The upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will continue to use the 4nm process.

In order to reduce the development cost of the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 processor, Qualcomm may need to break the norm. This means that they will not only purchase chips from TSMC but also from Samsung. Although there are rumors that the next generation TSMC N3E 3nm process will be cheaper, Qualcomm may need to further reduce production costs.

By doing so, Qualcomm will be able to cope with the declining demand for smartphones. There is currently no official statement regarding Qualcomm’s collaboration with TSMC and Samsung, but Ming-Chi Kuo’s analysis may be correct. More details about this matter will be made public in the coming months.

We will continue to update Phone&Auto; if you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us!