Samsung Foundry 2nm Yield Improvements and U.S. Expansion Plan

Samsung has confirmed plans to start its second generation of 2-nm smartphone chip production, while also laying out a staggered timeline for expanding its U.S. fabrication footprint. The company says it is steadily improving manufacturing yield for the 2-nm process, and expects the next 2-nm generation to be ready to ramp in the second half of the year—primarily to serve Samsung’s own chip needs, with potential customer interest depending on how the process matures.

As with other leading foundry players, Samsung’s biggest customer is still itself. In its update, the company reiterated that it wants to launch a 2-nm smartphone-focused chip using the next 2-nm manufacturing generation, while continuing yield improvements and potentially attracting additional customers if performance and output meet expectations. Samsung did not name any external clients, but the roadmap points directly to its own Exynos line.

To date, the Exynos 2600 has been identified as the only Samsung Foundry 2-nm product. If that remains the main use case, Samsung’s 2-nm smartphone SoC production is expected to continue through 2027 at minimum. The company also indicated there are efforts around a 2-nm AI chip, though it provided no concrete product details in the update. One possibility raised in the industry context is a Tesla AI5 design, which reportedly completed tape-out two weeks earlier.

Samsung’s most advanced process lines have largely been directed toward internal production so far. On the 4-nm front, the company is using HBM4 base dies in its memory business for its own needs. It also has the Groq LPU planned to be built on a 4-nm process at Samsung, with those chips intended for Nvidia systems. For 8-nm, Samsung has had more traditional foundry-style customer involvement in the past, with Nvidia cited as an example in the context of older GPU designs. Samsung did not share any foundry segment figures, and in a conference call it said it is still working to reach profitability, while expecting a “turnaround in the near future.”

Taylor, Texas expansion: second factory construction starts this year

Samsung also provided updates on its U.S. manufacturing expansion. Its second factory at Taylor, Texas—an announcement that had been delayed—has now moved back on track. The company expects production to begin by the end of 2026. For the 2-nm process there, Samsung described capacity increases as phased rather than immediate, meaning full output availability will likely take additional time after the initial start.

The bigger shift is the long-promised second site at the same location. Construction for that additional facility is targeted to begin by the end of this year, with completion and mass production expected in 2030. The timeline is later than what some observers might have expected, especially given that the second factory was already approved in early 2024 and is planned on the same grounds as the first plant. Samsung’s delay is tied to a period where the project was effectively put on hold due to a lack of customer demand, after which the schedule was restarted—making the revised window more understandable.

1.4-nm fab planning depends on customers; earliest ramp pushed back

Looking further ahead, Samsung is considering a new 1.4-nm chip fabrication facility, but it says it won’t commit to building it without input from customers. The company stated it would decide whether the project makes sense together with its clients, implying that confidence in its 1.4-nm readiness may not be strong enough to proceed independently.

Industry reporting points to TSMC’s corresponding A14 process reaching completion next year, with series production projected for 2028. Samsung, meanwhile, has a more cautious posture. Early SF1.4 chips are expected to be produced in Samsung’s own 2-nm lines in South Korea first, following a scheduling shift that puts that earliest timeframe at no earlier than 2029.