In the move of development high-performance computing (HPC) systems are attracting more to the semiconductor industry instead of the traditional mobile devices these days. HPC computers refer to computers that process complex calculations in parallel and at high speed on multiple servers.
The demand for HPC applications is also rising as, the rapid growth of high-tech industries, and the use of technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) are rapidly demand for big data analysis. Joining the race TSMC and Samsung Electronics are fueling to develop of technologies for high-performance and low-power products.
Samsung’s 4-nm foundry process targeting HPC customers
From May 11 to 16, Samsung Electronics will present a paper on SF4X, a 4-nm foundry process targeting HPC customers, at the VLSI Symposium 2023 to be held in Japan. In the first half of this year, Samsung will be mass-producing the product. This process delivers a 23 percent increase in power efficiency and makes a 10 percent performance improvement, as say Samsung’s preliminary data.
Since last year, the Korean semiconductor giant has subdivided a 4-nm process into five subordinated processes from two, gradually expanding semiconductor applications such as HPC and automotive semiconductors. According to industry sources, Samsung has recently secured stable yields for a 4-nm process.
The competition will be heading off against TSMC as Samsung Electronics launches its HPC-only chip process. TSMC has been leading the HPC market based on sub-7-nm processes. Which simultaneously hits the HPC market. As a result, HPC chips accounted for 42 percent of TSMC’s total revenue, surpassing mobile chips (38 percent) in the fourth quarter of last year.
Samsung continues mass production of a second-generation 3-nm process in 2024
Samsung Electronics expected to actively secure customers such as Nvidia through the development of next-generation processes starting with mass production of SF4X as a strong momentum. The Korean tech giant started mass production of the world’s first 3-nm chips for HPC in June 2022 and will begin mass production of a second-generation 3-nm process in 2024.
TSMC is also scheduled to start volume production of N3E semiconductors that can power HPC application products better than any other chips in the second half of this year. This process is an upgrade of N3, a 3-nm process that began mass production in 2022. TSMC has been making an aggressive sales pitch to HPC companies, launching its first dedicated HPC process, N4X, in 2021.
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