Guide
Recently, Samsung's successive failures in the chip field have sparked heated discussions, especially their plight on the 3nm process. This makes people wonder why Huawei was able to achieve a breakthrough on 7nm chips, while Samsung encountered many difficulties in the pursuit of new technologies. What kind of industry lessons and conjectures are hidden behind this? If you're also curious about the future of the chip industry, read on!
Samsung's failure reminds the industry
Samsung's failure reminds the entire chip industry that technological innovation and breakthroughs are inseparable from solid technology accumulation and continuous R&D investment, and quick success will only bring a heavy blow to the enterprise, and even if huge investment and manpower are invested, they may not be able to achieve the expected results. Foreign media have disclosed a strategy of Huawei, the company will improve the performance of its own chips through the optimization of the system architecture, under the same process, Huawei's chips are often one or two grades more than the chips of other manufacturers, this approach provides a way of thinking for domestic and foreign enterprises, that is, pay attention to technology research and development and accumulation, and avoid the risk of quick success.
In this sense, it is not unreasonable for Samsung to choose the GAA (Gate All Around) fully enclosed structure in the 3nm process, after all, this is a new attempt, which can theoretically achieve complete current isolation, and then improve the performance of the insulation layer, which is a very promising technology development direction. We must clearly understand that this technology is not something that Samsung can overcome alone, or it can be put into mass production in a short period of time, to achieve 3nm process, GAA architecture may be an ideal and feasible solution, but from the current point of view, Samsung is still unable to master the production process of 2nm or even 3nm chips, and the choice of GAA architecture at this time is undoubtedly a quick success.
In contrast, Huawei has achieved phased success in 7nm process chips, which can not only be comparable to 5nm chips produced by other manufacturers, but even better in some aspects, which has also attracted Samsung's attention. It is reported that Huawei's breakthrough is mainly due to the innovation of system architecture, which improves the integration without increasing the chip area, and avoids the physical performance limit through some technical means. To put it simply, it is to improve performance through the optimization of software and system architecture without changing the hardware structure and process technology, which is indeed a resounding slap in the face for the traditional chip industry. What's even more of a headache for Samsung is that even if it develops a new chip, it doesn't dare to implant it into the flagship model rashly, because Samsung has already learned such a painful lesson.
The Note20 series, which was launched last year, is equipped with the self-developed Exynos 2,100 chip, and the versions sold in many countries and regions have not received good market feedback, compared to the version with Qualcomm Snapdragon processor is much more popular.
Later, it was reported that Samsung carried out a large-scale redesign and R&D work for this chip, launched the Xinos 2,500 chip, and applied it to the Galaxy S21 series. However, the reality is desperate, for this 2,500 chip after the mass production of there is no normal good product, according to factory insiders, its yield rate is even as low as 0%.
Huawei improves the performance of 7nm chips
Samsung Electronics has invested up to 133 trillion won (about $116 billion) in research and development in just five years to overcome the 3nm process, and has since received blows and incentives from TSMC's 2nm process. Earlier this year, ASML's latest EUV (extreme ultraviolet lithography) process came out, known as the pioneer who can open the 2nm era, between TSMC and Samsung, whoever wins this technology first is likely to be the first to enter the 2nm era, after fierce competition, ASML chose TSMC.
This is undoubtedly a huge encouragement for TSMC, which represents TSMC's most advanced process in the world, and the 2nm chip is about to be launched, before that, Samsung was first robbed of the opportunity by Huawei on the 7nm chip, and gave a conclusion comparable to TSMC; Later, it was reported that its own 2-nanometer chips could not be mass-produced at all, which was undoubtedly a blow to Samsung. Samsung Electronics had to re-examine the importance of the foundry market, and after giving up many of its customers, it finally ushered in the first batch of foundry orders for the 3nm process. However, at this time, there was a shocking news within Samsung Electronics: the company decided to abandon all chip products built under the 3nm process.
Specifically, all the chips originally planned to be implanted in the flagship model have been scrapped, and it is obvious that there is no one and no one to invest a lot of money in improvement and optimization; For other low-to-mid-range products, it is unlikely that they will be used rashly until the 3nm process has reached a mature and usable state. So what exactly is the reason for Samsung to abandon these chips? Let's take a look at a set of data first: by 2024, TSMC has accounted for 61% of the global wafer foundry market, and other manufacturers combined are only 39%, including Samsung. Although Samsung occupies a place in the overall foundry market, it is somewhat inadequate in terms of independent research and development.
Before the end of last year, it was reported that the 7-nanometer chip led by Harbin Institute of Technology finally came out and has entered the usable stage; In addition, Shanghai Microelectronics Co., Ltd. has also successfully developed a 7nm process with Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Although there is still a big gap with Samsung and TSMC, this at least makes a progressive judgment for the eastern powers in the field of chips. In comparison, Samsung seems to be a little weak and lagging behind, especially when it comes to its own products. According to the information previously revealed by the whistleblower, after the $116 billion in funds for the research and development of 3nm chips began to be put into use in April last year, Samsung soon launched the first chip product based on the process and implanted it in the Galaxy S25 series.
However, due to various reasons, there was no normal quality available for this chip during the manufacturing process, so Samsung had to rush to find an alternative, and chose Qualcomm as the exclusive system chip supplier for the Galaxy S25 series. Guo Mingji once posted such a message on social media.
epilogue
From Samsung's failures, we can see the importance of technology accumulation and continuous R&D. The practice of quick success will only make the enterprise in trouble, but it can go further by working steadily. Huawei's success provides us with a good lesson that technological innovation takes time and patience. What do you think of this chip war? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment area, and don't forget to like it!