In an announcement released yesterday, Samsung revealed that they are planning to transition production of their top of the line chips to use a 7-nanometer manufacturing process. Chips destined for mid-tier devices are also getting a boost as Samsung plans to move those chips to an 11-nanometer process. Currently, many top-tier chips use 10-nm production processes, so that may give you an idea of how the market continues to evolve with today's flagship performance becoming tomorrow's mid-tier.
According to Samsung, the new 11-nm process for processors will be based on a Low Power Plus technology. The resulting processors will offer 15 percent better performance and 10 percent less chip area, or size, than current mid-tier chips that are manufactured with a 14-nm process. Samsung says the new chips will go into initial production during the first half of 2018.
For flagship level chips, in addition to the move to a 7-nm process, Samsung plans to use EUV – extreme ultra violet – lithography technology for manufacture of the chips. Samsung has been using EUV lithography since 2014, notably in production of memory chips. The company plans to build on that experience and the lessons learned in bringing the technology to their processor production line.
The new 7-nm chips are expected to be ready for production for customers in the second half of 2018.
Samsung says they will have more information about their roadmap, including availability and development updates, at the Samsung Foundry Forum Japan scheduled for September 15, 2017 in Tokyo.
