Report: Samsung’s 3nm (Exynos 2500) yield is extremely low (below 20%)

Samsung’s 3nm yield is extremely low, far below the mass production threshold. A new report says that the company’s 3-nanometer process yield is below 20%. Samsung may not be able to approve mass production of Exynos 2500 at this yield rate.

According to NewsWay (via Jukanlosreve), Samsung’s 3nm foundry process has a yield of less than 20%. The foundry division could not be able to attract new contract manufacturing clients, also retaining the existing ones has become a nearly impossible task.

Due to the low yield in the 3-nanometer foundry process, customers may have been disappointed. As a result, insisting on using only Samsung’s foundry would have made it harder to retain customers even the memory chip clients.

Exynos 2500

During the Exynos 2400 debut, Samsung confirmed the Exynos 2500 will be manufactured using a 3nm process node. As the yield rate is such low, the Foundry could not be able to win orders from System LSI and Samsung Elec.

It’s a win-win for TSMC as Samsung Foundry would shrink further and increased Snapdragon orders would help it widen the gap further. Qualcomm profits will also increase given Snapdragon exclusivity in the Galaxy S25 series.

Foundry Spin-off

Recently, reports were revealing Samsung’s plans to spin off the Foundry business. The company’s Foundry could split from Samsung Elec. The new firm will focus on attracting contracts from leading semiconductor designers.

It is observed that major chip designers avoid Samsung Foundry due to exposure of trade secrets as System LSI also designs system chips for the Galaxy smartphones that Samsung Electronics produces through Samsung Foundry.