Samsung Foundry has ambitions of taking a big chunk out of TSMC's market share but it's not even close. As of Q4 2024, TSMC's share of the global foundry market hit nearly 70%, more than double that of Samsung's and it's showing no signs of slowing down.
Meanwhile, Samsung Foundry is having to grapple with yield and quality issues that seem to have led to a loss of confidence in customers. It would have hoped that things get better as chipmakers get their 2nm chips out, but their orders are going in TSMC's lap for now.
TSMC seems to be in a better place to capture 2nm orders
A new report from a noted analyst highlights that Apple's custom chip for 2026's iPhone 18 will be made on TSMC's 2nm process. It's further claimed that TSMC's 2nm trial yields hover between 60-70%, which is incredible as it goes to show the Taiwanese corporation is ready to hit the ground running.
Apple has typically opted for TSMC to make its chips and it's unlikely that it would have gone Samsung Foundry's way to get its next-generation custom mobile chip made. However, Apple locking in production capacity at TSMC so far out is a vote of confidence that other chipmakers will most certainly take note of.
Samsung needs to turn things around after its 3nm process has failed to win any major orders. Yield issues have consistently plagued the process and burned billions in cash. There has been hope that perhaps NVIDIA and Qualcomm might choose Samsung Foundry to get some of their 2nm chips made.
However, if Samsung isn't able to satisfactorily demonstrate that the same issues that made the 3nm a disaster won't reappear with the 2nm, then it may just have to watch again as TSMC rides off into the sunset with the order book.
