Samsung Announces Mass Production on 10nm Process, TSMC and Intel Are Still on Track

From the 14nm FinFET process node, Samsung seems to have taken the lead by TSMC and Intel on the path of following Moore's Law. At the end of last year, Samsung had disclosed a model of its 10nm wafer to the public. Now that the process has begun mass production.

According to foreign media reports, Samsung announced this morning that its 10nm process technology has begun mass production, and the products carrying the technology chip will be available next year, Galaxy S8 (Exynos 8895 processor you) may be the first to use this industry's most Advanced technology models.

So what is Samsung's 10nm process compared to 14nm?

According to Samsung, chips manufactured in the 10nm process will achieve a 27% increase in performance and a 40% reduction in power consumption. In addition, the number of chips per wafer is expected to be 30% more. So, if you do not consider the yield, Samsung 10nm process will be the industry's most advanced chip technology.

In response, Jong Shik Yoon, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics's agency business unit, said, “The industry’s first large-scale production of 10nm FinFET technology products proves our leading position in advanced process technology and states that the company will continue to advance the scaling technology.”

With the mass production of Samsung's 10nm process, it means that the processor made of 10nm process will become the standard for high-end mobile phones next year. Apart from Exynos 8895, the Snapdragon 830 will have no suspense for adopting the latest technology.

However, according to Samsung's introduction, its 10nm process for mass production is 10LPE (low-power early), which is the so-called low-power version. There will be a second version next year, ie 10LPP (low power plus, advanced power processing). This is called the high-performance version in the industry, and a similar distinction exists in Samsung's 14nm FinFET.

When will TSMC and Intel's new process be available?

In fact, in the past, Intel and TSMC have been far ahead in the chip process, but with the sudden emergence of Samsung, the advantages of both have gradually disappeared, and now has become a "chaser."

It is understood that TSMC recently announced its latest roadmap at an internal meeting. The specific situation is that 10nm will enter volume production before the end of the year, and 7nm will be trial-produced as early as next April. Although several months later than Samsung, TSMC still has a chance to compete on orders for Xiaolong 830 and Apple A10X processors.

In 2007, Intel proposed the “Tick-Tock” model, which is a two-year cycle. Tick represents the update of a micro-architecture processor chip process. “Tock” represents the last “Tick” chip process. , update microprocessor architecture and improve performance. However, Intel has deliberately slowed down the pace of process upgrades in recent years. The “Tick-Tock” model has already existed in name only.

Due to the continuous bounce at the 14nm node, the 10nm process is naturally much later than Samsung and TSMC. According to official Intel information, Cannon Lake, its first 10nm processor, will not be available until the end of next year. Of course, Intel’s strategy is to be steady and steady. In terms of technology reserves, Intel may have a slight edge over Samsung and TSMC.

Ding Wenwu, general manager of the big fund once said that silicon-based semiconductors will not disappear because of the end of Moore's Law. On the contrary, they will exist for many years. But where is the innovation in the post-Moore’s Law era? This is an upcoming issue for upstream chip makers and fabs.