Samsung’s foundry division hasn’t had much success lately. It lost many major clients to arch-rival TSMC due to poor 3nm yields. However, the firm is still hopeful of turning things around fairly quickly. A new report suggests the Korean company is eyeing huge orders from Qualcomm and Nvidia as early as 2026. It aims to win back the lost trust with 2nm Exynos 2600 mass production in late 2025.
Samsung Foundry to produce 2nm Exynos 2600 next year
Samsung may be the world’s second-largest semiconductor foundry after TSMC but trails far behind its rival in market share. TSMC dominates the industry, holding a substantial majority, while Samsung secures less than a fifth of that share. Recent challenges have further widened the gap. The Korean firm’s 3nm yield struggles have given its Taiwanese competitor a significant edge.
Despite starting 3nm mass production after Samsung, TSMC quickly secured better yields and won large-scale manufacturing contracts from several major brands. Samsung, which switched from the FinFET to the more advanced GAA transistor architecture (TSMC still uses FinFET), was held back by poor yields. Even its mobile division has had to suffer from the foundry division’s struggles.
Since the company couldn’t mass produce the Exynos 2500 for the Galaxy S25 series, Samsung Mobile will ship the new flagships with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite processor globally. This substantially increases its manufacturing cost, effectively reducing the profit margin. However, despite all the setbacks, Samsung’s foundry division hasn’t lost hope and may bounce back soon.
If the new report is accurate, it seemingly aims to introduce 2nm chips in 2026. The Exynos 2600 might be its first 2nm mobile processor. While it’s unclear whether this Exynos chip will power the Galaxy S26 series, Samsung might start its mass production in late 2025 to showcase its advanced semiconductor capabilities. Hopefully, it can address the yield issues soon. Otherwise, the mobile division might switch to TSMC for the next Exynos flagship.
