Samsung surpasses TSMC with 60% 3nm yield rate: Report

Samsung and TSMC are currently in a neck-to-neck fight but a report suggests that the South Korean company now has an upper hand in 3nm yield over its Taiwanese competitor.

According to a report published by a Korean research firm, the 3nm yield of Samsung has reached 60% and this is higher than TSMC. On the other hand, TSMC’s 3nm yield is observed to remain at 55%.

Related – Largest Chip producer TSMC changes chip plant from 28nm to 2nm to cope with AI demand

The yield of Samsung Electronics’ 4-nano process was over 75% and over 60% for the 3-nano process. In the case of TSMC, the 4-nano yield is about 80%. It reflects that Samsung has caught up to almost close to TSMC.

What is yield in the semiconductor industry?

The semiconductor yield is a percentage of the total number of chips that were actually produced to the maximum chip (IC) count on one wafer. It is the opposite of the defective rate. In other words, the yield is the actual number produced to the total numbers that were put in.

Getting back customers:

After the latest revelation, it’s expected that Samsung may get back its lost customers, which it had to give up due to the low yield rate. But now, there’s a chance that all of those chip partners may rejoin the South Korean firm. Yet, nothing is certain at the moment.

(source)