Key Takeaways
- Samsung may shift to TSMC for Exynos production due to Samsung’s low yields and struggles.
- Exynos chips have long faced criticism for overheating, battery life, and poor performance.
- Switching to TSMC could improve Exynos reputation and production efficiency in the long run.
There’s no shortage of interesting Samsung system-on-a-chip developments, as a prominent tipster has just revealed Samsung’s potential shift to TSMC for future Exynos manufacturing (via @Jukanlosreve). Samsung’s hopes to adopt part of the Snapdragon 8 Elite fabrication pipeline appear to be dashed, as well, partly in light of Samsung Foundry’s continued struggles with low yields.
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The Samsung-developed, TSMC-Exynos future
And what positives and negatives it could entail
The S24 FE’s Exynos and Pixel 8a’s Tensor could soon come from Taiwan instead of South Korea.
Exynos chips have long drawn users’ ire for multiple reasons. Their noted overheating has been claimed to melt microSD cards in addition to getting phones hotter to the touch than is common or comfortable. Overheating has also led to frequent thermal throttling. Users often criticize battery life, and Exynos-powered devices simply can’t match the performance of comparable Snapdragon-driven units. While the gap has supposedly closed considerably in the last two years, the reputation persists.
Plus, usage isn’t everything. Samsung’s SF3E-3GAE 3mm node, mostly responsible for producing cryptocurrency miners and similar ASICs, maxed out at roughly 60% yield and never met its target of 70%. The second-generation SF3-3GAP 3mm process, meant to deliver Exynos 2500 chips, has sat at a paltry 20% yield for months and shows no signs of improving (blogger Yeux1122 via @Jukanlosreve).
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In other words, Samsung simply can’t produce enough top-of-the-line Exynos chips to go around. Poor yields increase the effective price per chip, too, making a move to TSMC’s more costly production less financially intimidating. And while Samsung struggles to get two-thirds of its chips working correctly, TSMC fabrication is rumored to manufacture at a success rate averaging 84% (via @yamazaki1812) or possibly even closer to 90% (via @Jukanlosreve). What’s more, TSMC has heavily bet on new US-based manufacturing, repeatedly doubling down with expanded investment.
The knock-on effects of Samsung’s poor yield continue. The negative outlook has caused Samsung difficulty in attracting and retaining clients, as even Google has jumped ship and tapped TSMC for future Tensor production. Furthermore, the poor performance has inspired Samsung to abandon plans to take on part of the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 production load (via @Jukanlosreve).
Consensus holds that TSMC’s process, in addition to more efficient production numbers, delivers more implicitly sound hardware less prone to thermal and performance inconsistencies. A switch from in-house fabrication to TSMC outsourcing could further drag Exynos’ reputation back from the bottom of the barrel. While some leakers have interpreted signs as indicating Galaxy phones might ditch Snapdragon for 2026, too, the ever-vigilant @Jukanlosreve maintains that the Galaxy S26 could still employ the Exynos 2600 — provided the production numbers are there.
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Samsung just beat TSMC to the 3nm punch
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While this interesting decision will almost certainly cost Samsung money, it’s clearly happening for a reason. Stay tuned for the latest fabrication rumors and their impact on the smartphone industry, as there will undoubtedly be more developments as 2025 rolls around. In the meantime, keep an eye out for the all-Snapdragon Galaxy S25 lineup to debut on January 5, 2025.
