TSMC-made Exynos chips could now be possible

Samsung may be making a radical change regarding the manufacturing of Exynos chips. The company produces its own SoCs at Samsung Foundry factories. However, it has not been up to the task of efficiently manufacturing 3nm chips. According to reports, it has been working to try to resolve the situation. Now, a reliable tipster claims that Samsung is considering outsourcing Exynos chip manufacturing to TSMC.

TSMC is currently the largest contract chip manufacturer in the world. Big Samsung customers have moved to TSMC in recent years due to problems at the South Korean giant’s factories. However, Samsung’s potential decision to switch to TSMC for Exynos chip production is still striking.

Samsung reportedly considering turning to TSMC to manufacture Exynos chips

Tipster Jukanlosreve posted on X the news about Samsung considering turning to TSMC factories. The source doesn’t offer any further details on this, but the recent background regarding Samsung Foundry explains the potential move. Industry insiders claim that the Galaxy S25 series will use the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip worldwide. Apparently, solving the low yield issues of the company’s 3nm GAA wafers will take longer than it has available.

Samsung considering using external factories to produce its Exynos chips is quite normal. This doesn’t mean that it will happen with total certainty, however. Big brands always need contingency plans in place for any incidents or problems that may arise during a project. What’s surprising is the company turning to its main rival in the chip production segment.

In recent weeks, tipsters revealed that Samsung even explored the possibility of using the Dimensity 9400 chip in the vanilla and Plus models. The company also tested the Exynos 2500 until the last minute, hoping to resolve Foundry’s issues. However, it seems that Samsung will have to turn to Qualcomm for the hardware that will power its next flagship mobile devices. Therefore, switching to TSMC could serve as a backup plan in the event that problems persist with Samsung Foundry wafers.

Samsung’s move to a 3nm process has been problematic

In the recent past, chips manufactured by Samsung have presented issues related to temperature management, throttling, and modem performance. The company seemed to have solved these problems with the 4nm Exynos 2400 chip, which performs admirably. However, the difficulties returned when Samsung tried to migrate to the more advanced 3nm process.