Qualcomm Confirms Plans to Use Samsung’s 2nm Process
Qualcomm’s top handset executive, Chris Patrick, has confirmed the company is seriously evaluating Samsung’s 2-nanometer (2nm) fabrication process for its upcoming products. While nothing has been officially finalized, the move underscores Qualcomm’s intent to broaden its foundry partnerships beyond its nearly exclusive relationship with TSMC for high-end Snapdragon chips.
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## Evaluation Stage: Where Qualcomm Stands
According to Patrick, Qualcomm is “conducting in-depth work regarding Samsung’s 2nm process technology” and is currently in the stage of “understanding and evaluating” how to integrate that process into future product development. He doesn’t commit to a specific product using Samsung’s 2nm node just yet.
## Clarifying Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Rumors
Although there was speculation that Samsung would fabricate the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 using its 2nm process, Qualcomm officially dispelled this rumor. In fact, both variants of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 remain manufactured by TSMC, consistent with Qualcomm’s recent pattern for flagship chip fabrication.
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## Long-standing Alliance Between Qualcomm and Samsung
Patrick emphasized that Samsung Foundry remains “a long-standing core partner” for Qualcomm, signaling that their collaboration stretches back decades. He also described Samsung Electronics as Qualcomm’s “strongest partner globally” in the mobile space, noting that their partnership includes co-development projects like LPDDR6 memory.
## On LPDDR6: Co-innovation in Progress
The two companies are jointly working on commercializing LPDDR6 (Low-Power Double Data Rate 6) memory. Engineering teams from both sides are testing and resolving the complexities involved in its implementation, particularly for next-generation Snapdragon platforms.
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## Broader Context: Samsung’s 2nm Roadmap and Market Position
Samsung Foundry’s 2nm technology, internally known as the SF2 series, is slated for mass production starting in 2025. These first-generation SF2 products are being optimized for mobile and high-performance computing (HPC) applications. Samsung is also developing subsequent nodes—such as SF2P, SF2X, SF2A and SF2Z—for automotive, AI, and HPC use cases.
The SF2Z node, in particular, will feature backside power delivery network (BSPDN), which places power lines on the wafer’s back. This innovation helps reduce interference and voltage drop—crucial advances for power efficiency and performance-per-area (PPA) in advanced chips.
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## Why Diversification Matters for Qualcomm
Qualcomm has relied on TSMC for its top-tier Snapdragon chipsets since 2022, largely due to concerns over thermal management and yield performance when working with Samsung’s foundries during earlier node generations.
Considering TSMC’s rising costs and growing demand pressures—especially for leading-edge nodes—evaluating Samsung’s 2nm capacity is part of Qualcomm’s strategy to ensure manufacturing resilience and flexibility.
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## What’s Known — And What Isn’t
Here’s a summary of what we know so far about Qualcomm’s relationship with Samsung’s 2nm process, and what remains uncertain:
Known facts:
– Qualcomm is classifying Samsung Foundry as a “core partner” and is deeply studying the 2nm node.
– Samsung’s SF2 series is progressing toward mass production in 2025, with follow-up variants for specialized uses well into 2027.
– Co-engineering on LPDDR6 is underway between Qualcomm and Samsung.
Unresolved details:
– There is no confirmed product that will use Samsung’s 2nm node.
– Timing for which Snapdragon series might adopt Samsung’s SF2 process is uncertain.
– Yield, power consumption, performance gains, and cost competitiveness, while promising in early reports, have not been officially disclosed in detail.
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## Why Timing Is Key
Samsung’s 2nm (SF2) process is entering mass production in 2025 for first-generation nodes. However, maturity in manufacturing—especially yield rate and performance per watt—will determine when industry clients like Qualcomm can make confident volume deployments.
Meanwhile, TSMC has continued to deliver 2nm chips for Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon Gen 6 models, confirming that Samsung is not yet the exclusive fabrication partner for those high-end SKUs.
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## What to Watch For Next
We’re likely to see developments from Qualcomm and Samsung in these areas:
– Formal announcements tying specific Snapdragon platforms or mobile devices to Samsung’s 2nm fabrication.
– Data comparing power efficiency, thermal behavior, and manufacturability of chips built on SF2 vs TSMC’s 2nm processes.
– Progress on LPDDR6 commercialization, especially how it integrates with Samsung’s foundry tech.
– The evolution of Samsung’s SF2P, SF2X, and SF2Z nodes, particularly their availability to external customers like Qualcomm.
Until then, Qualcomm’s evaluation marks a significant signal of intent. But industry watchers should keep in mind that assessment does not always translate into immediate deployment.
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