Samsung Could Aid Apple’s Rapid 1.4nm Transition, As Foundry Giant Reportedly Restarting Commercialization Of Next-Generation Lithography

To keep pace with TSMC, Samsung’s 1.4nm process was originally targeted for mass production in 2027, but the Korean giant changed priorities, reportedly believing that stabilizing 2nm yields took precedence over entering a losing race with its foundry rival. However, a report states that the Korean giant’s plans to jump into the sub-2nm lithography are once again on the table, and if it achieves success, perhaps Apple could open up doors to a dual-sourcing approach.

New mass production target for the 1.4nm process set for 2029, marking a two-year delay to focus on boost 2nm yields

With rumors clamoring that Samsung had abandoned development work on the 1.4nm node (SF1.4), The Bell reports that the company went through some schedule adjustments and, instead of 2027, the new timeline is 2029. Assuming the roadmap turns out to be accurate, Samsung will still be an entire year behind TSMC, as the latter is reportedly beginning mass production of its 1.4nm technology in 2028.

The delay was due to stabilizing its 2nm GAA (SF2) and second-generation 2nm GAA (SF2P) yields. According to a previous report, the President of Samsung’s DS division, Han Jin-man, says that the firm’s profitability has received a decent bump thanks to the improvement of the 2nm process, which probably gave the company confidence to set things in motion to pursue commercialization of the 1.4nm process.

However, with AI chips currently concentrated on the 3nm lithography, companies like NVIDIA will eventually gravitate to the 2nm process. Looking at these impending events, wouldn’t it make sense for Samsung to maintain its focus on its SF2 and SF2P variants to secure these rewarding offers? That would be the right step to make, but what if the company had other plans beyond securing AI customers? What if Apple were Samsung’s next customer?

Apple’s desperation has given Samsung sufficient motivation to jumpstart 1.4nm commercialization

With Apple said to ditch TSMC’s 2nm process after just two years due to the AI boom, the Cupertino giant doesn’t want to run into a situation where it has to fight over chip supply. Despite its foundry partner’s monthly production of 3nm wafers reaching up to an impressive 175,000 units, supply remains choked, with the same problem eventually finding its way to the 2nm process.

Another reason why Samsung can woo Apple towards its SF1.4 technology is the cost of TSMC’s 1.4nm process. At an estimated $45,000 per war (2nm wafers are reportedly priced at $30,000), Apple may be forced to introduce another hike after it raised prices of various Macs and other products, and that’s just with the memory and storage prices reaching $145 and $51 respectively, for a 12GB LPDDR5X module and 256GB NAND, up from $39 and $13.

By jumping from 2nm to 1.4nm, Apple has to pay a $15,000 difference per wafer, and if that doesn’t spell trouble, we don’t know what will. Fortunately, the California-based titan isn’t stubborn when it comes to diversifying its foundry supply chain, as Intel has reportedly been tapped for its 18A-P process for the upcoming M7.

In short, who’s to say that Samsung’s 1.4nm node can’t become an option in future?

News Source: The Bell

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