Samsung Electronics has entered the competition for a cutting-edge 2-nanometer (nm, one billionth of a meter) foundry process and has secured an order to produce 2-nm semiconductors from a Japanese artificial intelligence (AI) company.
According to industry sources on Feb. 15, Samsung Electronics has won an order from the Japanese AI startup Preferred Networks (PFN) for the production of 2-nm process-based AI semiconductors, including AI accelerators.
Founded in 2014, PFN is recognized for its expertise in the field of AI deep learning development and has attracted significant investments from major companies across various sectors, including Toyota, NTT, and Fanuc.
It is speculated within the industry that Samsung Electronics was chosen by PFN due to its comprehensive capabilities, encompassing both memory and foundry services, allowing it to offer turnkey solutions from the design of high bandwidth memory (HBM) to production and advanced 2.5D packaging.
Samsung Electronics had previously ignited competition in the most advanced microprocessing area with Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s leading foundry company, by announcing a detailed road map for its 2-nm process in June last year.
The narrower the semiconductor circuit line width in nanometers, the lower the power consumption and the faster the processing speed, enabling the production of superior performance semiconductors.
According to foreign media, TSMC has shared the test results of its 2-nm prototype process with major clients, including Apple and Nvidia, and is aiming to start mass production by 2025, leading the competition in the 2-nm field.
However, Samsung Electronics is determined to secure a technological advantage in the 2-nm competition, having already started the world’s first 3-nm process using next-generation Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistors in June 2022, based on its accumulated technological prowess.
A foundry industry insider stated, “From the perspective of fabless companies like PFN, there are too many variables to evaluate the performance of the yet-to-be-commercialized 2-nm processes of both Samsung Electronics and TSMC. It is likely that the focus was placed on the supply chain aspect, such as the smooth supply of HBM and reducing dependency on TSMC, rather than the process advantage.”