Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 was built on TSMC’s 4nm process, but it is possible that the company adopts a dual-sourcing purpose by teaming up with Samsung for future high-end chipsets. A rumor claims that both cutting-edge N3E and 3nm GAA processes from TSMC and Samsung, respectively, may be used to achieve this goal.
‘Snapdragon 8 for Galaxy’ brand might be retained for SoCs mass produced solely on Samsung’s fabrication technology
With Samsung announcing the progress of its 3nm GAA technology during its latest quarterly earnings, Revegnus reports that the company’s wafer output is seemingly doing well. The tipster believes that this is the reason why Qualcomm and the Korean giant are working together to create a variation of high-end Snapdragon 8 chipsets. For instance, assuming that the plan comes to fruition at the start of 2024, then the regular Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be delivered on TSMC’s N3E process, which is an improved iteration of the company’s 3nm architecture.
The second version will be fabricated on Samsung’s 3nm GAA process and will likely be named ‘Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 for Galaxy’ and reserved for the Galaxy S25 series. Qualcomm has been rumored previously to shift to a dual-sourcing option as, from a business perspective, it is the smartest choice to save costs. This year, only Apple is reportedly mass producing chipsets on TSMC’s 3nm process, indicating that the high wafer price discouraged Qualcomm and MediaTek from placing orders.
However, this does not mean that TSMC’s N3E process will be any cheaper, so shifting to Samsung’s 3nm GAA node will be the right course to take. Unfortunately, for this year, it does not look like Qualcomm has plans to take advantage of Samsung’s next-generation 3nm GAA technology. Instead, the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is said to be mass produced on TSMC’s N4P process, bringing slightly better power efficiency to future Galaxy S24 models.
The past Snapdragon 8 releases are proof that TSMC’s foundry is superior compared to Samsung’s, so it should not be surprising that the latter is picking up the pace in securing business with its former customers again.
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