Boy, things have really taken a bad turn for Samsung’s chip division. Once at the top of the industry, Samsung Foundry has been losing contracts left and right. Many companies are turning to TSMC to found their chips, and this leaves the company in a bind. Unfortunately, things aren’t looking better. Another deal between Samsung and Qualcomm has fallen through.
Back in the day, Samsung Foundry crafted Qualcomm’s most powerful chips. This went on for years, but all good things must come to an end. Samsung Foundry built the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, and this chip was plagued with overheating and battery drain issues. Qualcomm then had the same chip manufactured by TSMC, and users saw a notable improvements in performance. Qualcomm didn’t make any changes to the chip’s architecture, it merely changed foundaries.
As you can tell, this was a major blow to Samsung, and things didn’t get better over the years. There are even rumors stating that one of the final hold-outs, Google, will move over to TSMC for the Tensor G5 chip. As we know, Samsung and Google have a tight partnership.
Another deal between Qualcomm and Google has fallen through
Samsung has struggled with its chipmaking process, and this is what convinced other companies to jump ship. However, that doesn’t mean that Samsung doesn’t want to recapture its previous partners.
The company tried to initiate another deal with Qualcomm to manufacture its 3nm Snapdragon 8s Elite chip. This would be a lower-powered version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Samsung has been working on its 3nm process and making improvements, but it doesn’t seem like they’re enough. Qualcomm rejected Samsung’s proposal and stayed over in TSMC’s camp. TSMC is the only other company that can produce chips under 8nm.
At this point, we’re not sure what Samsung plans to do with its withering fortunes. With the company suffering a 95% drop in revenue, the Galaxy Z Fold 6/Flip 6 failing to meet expectations, and now companies leaving it for TSMC, we don’t know what the company will do to turn its fortunes around. Hopefully, it can think of something before it starts cutting jobs.
