As the world of technology keeps steamrolling forward, companies are constantly racing to produce the most advanced and efficient hardware. Apple, in its characteristic trend-setting fashion, is rumored to be launching the 3nm chip this year. Meanwhile, Qualcomm, another significant player in the industry, has decided to align with TSMC’s N4P process for its upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 release. But there’s talk that Qualcomm is facing some challenges.
If Qualcomm works exclusively with TSMC, they will have to pay more in the long run
Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities, shared on Medium that Qualcomm had to lay off 415 workers recently because of low smartphone sales. This setback might be a reason why they’re not going for the more expensive 3nm chip development right now, especially when Apple seems to be leading the way by taking most of the new wafer shipments.
But Qualcomm has other options. They might use TSMC’s cheaper N3E process, another version of the 3nm process. But if they only work with TSMC, they’ll probably have to pay more. That’s why Kuo thinks Qualcomm might start working with Samsung again, using its 3nm tech. Qualcomm has thought about using both TSMC and Samsung before to keep costs down.
Samsung has made some good progress with its 3nm tech, which might attract Qualcomm. In the past, Qualcomm used TSMC’s 4nm process because it was better and gave good results. It makes sense that Qualcomm might be unsure about teaming up with Samsung again, especially with fewer resources now. But they might not have much choice. If smartphone sales go up again, Qualcomm might change its plans.
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(Via)
