Industry expert Ming-Chi Kuo claims that Intel Foundry Services (IFS) is ceasing to produce Qualcomm SoCs using the 20A fabrication process. Qualcomm will most likely go with TSMC and Samsung Foundry instead.
Kuo did not provide much information as to why Qualcomm is making such a decision. But according to recent reports, the reason may be due to high production costs. This decision may have a negative effect on RibbonFet (transistor architecture) and PowerVia (backside power delivery method), as this will put Intel’s upcoming 18A mass production at a high level of risk.
It is also highly anticipated that Qualcomm will go to TSMC Foundry for its upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 production, which is set to launch in October. For the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, though, Qualcomm might have to dual source from both TSMC and Samsung. Recently, it was said that Samsung’s custom version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be manufactured using its own 3GAP node. While the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip will be manufactured using TSMC’s node.
Aside from this, rumors suggest that the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC will feature a more modernized architecture. It is expected to have a more powerful prime core with a higher frequency. It will likely be manufactured using the TSMC N4P process. Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 may include one Cortex-X4 core, Five A720 cores for enhanced performance, two A520 power-efficient cores, and an Adreno 750 GPU.
We can expect more leaks and official news on Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC as the launch date grows near.
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