14 DAY TRIAL // Competition on the mobile chip market has become fiercer, as TSMC is expected to start mass production of its 7nm chipsets next year. Its main rival, Qualcomm, has decided to partner with Samsung in order to keep up with the innovations of the Taiwanese company.
Due to the collaboration with Qualcomm, Samsung has first dibs on this year's most powerful chipset, the Snapdragon 835, which will not be widely available until after the launch of the Galaxy S8.
Samsung's flagship is supposed to make its debut in South Korea on April 14, which is why many handset makers have decided to opt forQualcomm's last year high-end chipset, the Snapdragon 821.
The Snapdragon 835 is built using Samsung's 10nm FeT technology, which makes it smaller, more powerful and energy efficient than any other chipsets available on the market.
The South Korean company managed to refine the 10nm manufacturing process, which allowed Samsung to obtain time-limited exclusivity on the Snapdragon 835 chipset.
However, TSMC has already announced that it will begin testing its own 7nm manufacturing process this year, as it prepares its new chipset for mass production in 2018. TSMC is likely to be the sole chipset supplier for Apple's iPhone next year, but Samsung remains a serious competitor in the market.
The South Korean company has just announced that it will continue to push its manufacturing process throughout the year and hopes to be able to start testing the 7nm FeT technology this year.
According to Heo Kuk, managing director of Samsung Semiconductor System LSI Division, the company aims to start 7nm chipset mass production in early 2018.
The South Korean company will introduce extreme ultraviolet exposure equipment (EUV) in the manufacturing process of the 7nm chipsets, ZDNet reports.
“We will maximize the advantages of EUV in the 7-nanometer process and secure competitiveness in terms of performance and power consumption,” said Kuk.