Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 May Exclusively Be Mass Produced By Samsung, As TSMC Rumored To Allocate Just 15 Percent Of Its 3nm Technology

Qualcomm is rumored to exclusively use TSMC’s 4nm N4P process for its upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, but it may have to change sides for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 and switch to Samsung’s foundry for 2024 due to ongoing capacity issues. Apple is reported to have secured the majority of the TSMC’s 3nm wafers, leaving just 15 percent available for Qualcomm to utilize, which would be unacceptable to the chipset maker.

TSMC’s 3nm is also said to provide shipments to MediaTek, leaving practically nothing for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4

The rumor doing the rounds was posted by @MappleGold on X, stating that Qualcomm will only stick to a dual-sourcing approach that involves both Samsung and TSMC if the latter can improve its 3nm yields, which is rumored to be an abysmal 55 percent. However, a separate report claims a yield rate between 70-80 percent. Regardless of the number, Qualcomm will only see 15 percent of those 3nm shipments, with the remaining orders reserved for MediaTek and Apple.

While TSMC can make efforts to improve 3nm production, the entire thread that includes @MappleGold’s insights states that the manufacturer cannot make such adjustments in just a year and that its 3nm wafer production will always be at maximum capacity, thanks to Apple. With Qualcomm possibly switching to Samsung for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, it is unclear which manufacturing process will be used, but we believe that the 3nm GAAP (Gate All Around Plus) node will be utilized to rival TSMC’s own technology.

All variants of 8 gen 4 will use SF

— Mapple_gold (@MappleGold) August 13, 2023

Also, the samples received by Qualcomm from Samsung’s foundry show promise, as suggested by the individual’s post, showing that it might not be a terrible decision to switch partners, at least for one chipset launch. There were rumors that the San Diego firm would move to TSMC’s N3E process, which is an iteration of its existing 3nm process, but based on the latest rumor, those plans might not materialize either.

Written by Omar Sohail