Samsung facing the heat from new contract chip manufacturers Intel and Rapidus
For the past few years, Samsung Foundry and TSMC were the only brands capable of making semiconductor chips on 7nm (or better) process nodes. While TSMC has been the best in performance and efficiency, Samsung was a good option for firms that couldn’t afford TSMC or get enough volume.
Intel and Rapidus plan to make 2nm chips soon to compete with Samsung Foundry and TSMC
However, things are getting more problematic for Samsung Foundry as new competitors have emerged in the contract semiconductor chip manufacturing space. Intel Foundry (earlier known as Intel Foundry Services) and Rapidus are the latest firms to announce plans to fabricate chips using 2nm (or better) process nodes. Intel Foundry has announced that it will make semiconductor chips using Intel 4 (4nm equivalent), Intel 3 (3nm equivalent), Intel 18A (1.8nm equivalent), and Intel 14A (1.4nm equivalent) nodes. Rapidus, a Japanese firm, has announced plans to make 2nm chips. This is a problem for Samsung Foundry.
Intel announced its future chip fabrication processes and timelines at its Direct Connect event. The company seems ready to start making 20A and 18A chips by the end of this year. And it plans to attract various big-name chip firms with its new nodes. It has already announced that it will make chips for Microsoft using its 18A process. However, the names of the chips or what they would be used for weren’t revealed. Apart from making Intel chips, Intel Foundry is also reportedly in talks with Nvidia and Qualcomm to make chips for them.
The company has already made Meteor Lake (14th Gen Intel) chips using its Intel 4 process. Using its Intel 3 process, the company plans to make Xeon server chips codenamed Granite Rapids and Sierra Forest. The Intel 3 process group will have multiple versions: Intel 3-T, Intel 3-P, and Intel 3P-T. This will be the company’s last process family to use the FinFET structure for transistors. Newer process nodes (starting with Intel 18A) will use the Gate-All-Around (GAA FET) structure called RibbonFET, similar to what Samsung Foundry uses for its 3nm chips.
Tenstorrent will use Rapidus 2nm process for AI chips
Tenstorrent, the AI chip firm headed by legendary chip designer Jim Keller, had tasked Samsung Foundry to make its 4nm chips a few months ago. However, a few days ago, the company announced it signed a deal to license its RISC-V CPU and AI processor technologies to Japan’s Leading-Edge Semiconductor Technology Center (LSTC). LSTC will use Tenstorrent’s technology to make an edge-focused AI accelerator that will rely on a multi-chiplet design. Rapidus will make these chiplets using its 2nm fabrication process sometime in 2027.
Author’s Note: If Rapidus manages to actually start making 2nm chips in 2027, it will be a major breakthrough for the company and Japan. It will enter the big league of Intel, Samsung, and TSMC. If Samsung Foundry doesn’t solve its yield-related issues with its 3nm process node, firms like Nvidia and Qualcomm have a viable option to switch to Intel (or maybe even Rapidus) in the future.
