Samsung was reported to be working on a new Exynos chipset codenamed ‘Ulysses’ that would leverage the company’s 2nm technology. At the time, TSMC had achieved a new milestone with its own 2nm process, obtaining a 60 percent yield during its trial production run, meaning that the Korean foundry needed to move expeditiously to ensure that its cutting-edge nodes maintained some kind of pace with its competitor. Fortunately, during the early production run of the Exynos 2600, a new report claims that Samsung achieved a 30 percent yield, which is still half of TSMC’s initial result, but given the company’s abysmal record with the 3nm node, this can be considered a victory.
Mass production of the 2nm GAA process is expected to kick off in the second half of this year, with one Samsung Electronics official pleased with the Exynos 2600’s progress
Even though a 30 percent yield is still far from where Samsung needs to be to start securing orders, we believe this is a step in the direction, assuming the statistics shared by The Bell were accurate. However, by industry standards, the company needs to take that 30 percent figure and raise it to 70 percent to start receiving orders from lucrative customers like Qualcomm and MediaTek. Sadly, Samsung lost out on Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 orders as the latter will reportedly be mass produced on TSMC’s 3nm ‘N3P’ process only.
Still, looking at the recent yields during the trial production run of the Exynos 2600, Samsung has bought itself a lifeline. Moreover, improving these results will go a long way toward reducing the company’s chipset expenditure, which it has accumulated by exclusively using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite for its current-generation Galaxy S25 series. One Samsung Electronics official has stated that mass production of the Exynos 2600 appears to proceed as scheduled, hinting that the company may not delay it like the Exynos 2500 launch.
Samsung’s 2nm GAA, or SF2, employs the foundry giant’s third-generation Gate All Around technology, which improves performance by 12 percent, power efficiency by 25 percent, and area by 5 percent compared to SF3. Hopefully, in the coming months, that 30 percent yield figure will improve to the point where it becomes viable for Samsung to commence mass production in the second half of this year.
News Source: The Bell
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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