Samsung is reportedly seeking partnerships with other foundry companies, potentially including TSMC, to manufacture its Exynos SoCs. This move comes after the poor yields of its 3nm GAA process, which has impacted the Exynos 2500 and likely resulted in the upcoming Galaxy S25 exclusively using the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
Seeking Multi-Channel Collaboration
Samsung's chip manufacturing division, LSI, is exploring "multi-faceted collaborations" to stabilize its performance and expand beyond mobile, automotive, and communications applications. While TSMC is the obvious choice for advanced manufacturing processes, the report mentions AMD for some reason, a client of TSMC. It’s unlikely that Samsung will hand over all its Exynos orders to other companies.
TSMC's Position
The report notes that while TSMC is the only other realistic option for advanced manufacturing, it is not guaranteed that they will agree to a partnership with Samsung. TSMC, as the current leader in semiconductor manufacturing, may not see a benefit to partnering with Samsung and may set terms that suit its own growth.
TSMC recently achieved a 60% yield in the trial production of its 2nm process, suggesting mass production is on the horizon. With high demand for 2nm wafers, TSMC might not be interested in partnering with Samsung.
