In the competition for advanced semiconductor processes, South Korea's Samsung is currently fully developing 3nm GAA process technology, expecting mass production in the first half of 2022, earlier than the wafer foundry leader TSMC's mass production plan in the second half of 2022, in order to obtain the title of "world's first" in an attempt to gain more customer favor, so as to gradually narrow the gap between the market and TSMC. However, South Korean media quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that while Samsung's wafer foundry division is working hard to move towards the next advanced semiconductor process node, the company is lagging behind in the number of patented IPs established with 3-nanometer GAA process technology.
According to the Report of TheElec, a south Korean media outlet pointed out that people familiar with the matter said that Samsung Wafer Foundry is currently working with customers to conduct product design and mass production quality tests. The goal of this business unit is to leapfrog rival TSMC and achieve the title of "World No. 1" in 3nm GAA process technology. However, it remains to be seen whether Samsung can truly meet customer requirements in terms of performance and capacity of 3nm GAA process technology.
Sources told the interview reporter that Samsung lacks relevant patents for 3-nanometer GAA process technology, which makes Samsung feel uneasy. Because semiconductor wafer foundries need to have a large number of patented IP, with sufficient patent IP support, they can help fabless IC design companies shorten the development time, so as to win the favor of IC companies and obtain orders. In this regard, Samsung is currently lagging behind TSMC.
Compared with Samsung's wafer foundry lack of patents related to 3nm GAA process technology, TSMC has more patentED IP in cooperation with major customers Apple, Qualcomm, and even Samsung's LSI system. On the other hand, people familiar with the matter also stressed that in addition to the larger number of patented IPs, TSMC has also been very active in building IP ecosystems with fabless IC design companies and wafer brand companies, and has registered a large number of IPs to optimize its foundry technology for individual customers.
According to South Korean securities firms, as of 2020, TSMC has obtained about 35,000 to 37,000 IP patents, more than ten times more than a decade ago. But in comparison, Samsung Wafer Foundry may have about 7,000 to 10,000 patented IPs, far behind TSMC.