Samsung said Tuesday it plans to build some of the world's most advanced chips - by 2027 - as the race between the South Korean electronics giant and the world's largest chipmaker TSMC intensifies.
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Samsung unveiled a roadmap of its chip production plans and said it will start making chips with a 2-nanometer process in 2025 and a 1.4-nanometer process in 2027.
The number of nanometers refers to the size of each individual transistor on a chip. The smaller the transistor, the more of them can be packed into a single semiconductor. Typically, a reduction in nanometer size can result in more powerful and efficient chips.
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To understand, the processor in Apple's latest iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models is a 4-nanometer chip.
Samsung began producing 3-nanometer chips earlier this year.
The South Korean company, known for consumer electronics and memory chips, is seeking to boost its conventional chip manufacturing operations in an effort to catch up with TSMC.
For its part, TSMC is expected to start producing 3nm chips this year and 2nm production will begin in 2025. However, the company has not officially announced plans for mass production of 1.4nm chips.
Samsung's ambitious plans come amid global economic headwinds and signs of slowing semiconductor demand . Global chip industry sales fell 3.4% in August compared with July, according to the U.S.-based Semiconductor Industry Association.
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Still, Samsung said it plans to expand its production capacity for its most advanced chips by more than three times by 2027 compared to this year, underscoring its upward trend in future demand.
Information source: cnbc.com
