The challenge between Samsung and TSMC sees the South Korean manufacturer excel in the hard-fought market for smartphone chips made with the most advanced production nodes. This was reported in a recent report by Counterpoint Research taken from the Korea Herald.
More specifically, in the first quarter of 2022 Samsung conquered about 60% of the market share of 5nm chips and with even more advanced production processes (think of Exynos 2200 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 at 4nm). The remaining 40% goes to rival TSMC.
THE CHALLENGE IS ALWAYS VERY FIGHTED
It is a significant result both in itself, and when compared with the results of a year ago which showed very different balances between the two companies in the same market segment: in the first quarter of 2021 Samsung held only 8.6% of the sector. , TSCM 91.4%.
The acceleration is largely linked to results from Samsung’s mobile division which shipped 74 million smartphones in the first three months of 2022 – a result not seen since the pre-pandemic period. The Exynos 2200 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chips equip models in the Galaxy S22 range, but also mid-range products – such as the 5nm Exynos 1280 (integrated into mid-range models such as the Galaxy A53 and Galaxy A33 ) – have contributed.
But the CounterPoint report takes a moment and the balance of power could still change in the coming weeks. TSMC in fact started mass production of the 4nm Dimensity 9000 chip from Mediatek during the first quarter and a plus variant was recently announced.
Samsung on the other hand has acknowledged that its 4nm production process has room for improvement and has started a reorganization of its research team after Qualcomm turned to TSMC to produce the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. According to CounterPoint estimates, TSCM could catch up with orders from Qualcomm for 4nm chips.
If you like our news and you want to be the first to get notifications of the latest news, then follow us on Twitter and Facebook page and join our Telegram channel. Also, you can follow us on Google News for regular updates.