Samsung Foundry delayed mass production of chips at its Taylor, Texas fab from the second half of 2024 to sometime in 2026 due to insufficient yields, reports Business Korea . The publication claims that Samsung's yields with SF3 (3nm-class) process technologies that rely on gate-all-around (GAA) transistors are considerably lower than those of its arch-rival TSMC. Samsung is reportedly trying to find a cure for this issue.
Samsung Foundry reportedly went as far as withdrawing personnel from its fab in Taylor, Texas, to cut costs, which could be part of the company's broader plan, reported by Reuters, to reduce its workforce in general. However, Business Korea claims that the company withdrew its workforce from the plant due to a delay with its launch in 2026 as it is reconsidering its foundry strategy and refining process technology.
The company's agreement with the U.S. government to receive up to $6.4 billion in grants and loans under the U.S. CHIPS Act is now in jeopardy. The deal requires the plant to be operational, a condition unlikely to be met anytime soon, based on the report.
The Taylor fab was planned as a critical facility for producing chips at SF4 (4nm-class) process technologies and below , which in the case of the Texas fab timeline includes SF3 (2nd Generation 3nm) and SF3P (which is now called SF2 and formally belongs to 2nm-class nodes) . However, due to insufficient yields, particularly with SF2/SF3P process technology, the company has to reassess its plans concerning production starting at the Taylor fab, reports Business Korea. In light of these issues, Samsung has withdrawn most of its workforce from the Taylor plant, leaving only a skeleton crew.
Rumors about insufficient yields at Samsung Foundry have been floating around for years, and there are indirect indicators of yield issues, particularly in advanced fabrication technologies. Samsung's SF3E (1st Generation 3nm-class node) has only been used for cryptocurrency mining chips, a sign of high defect density that plagues the yields of big chips. Still, its successors SF3 and SF3P have been tapped for a data center and smartphone processor .
Yet, reports about Samsung Foundry's yields are often confusing. Even the current Business Korea report claims that Samsung's yields with GAA-based nodes (i.e., 3nm-class and below) are 'around 10% to 50%.' Still, a few paragraphs earlier, the report claims that Samsung's yields at processes of 3nm and below are 'below 50%,' which essentially means that the article contradicts itself. Yet, yields below 50% are often insufficient for mass production unless the chip design has many internal redundancies.
Samsung's chairman, Lee Yong, has been proactive in seeking solutions for insufficient yields. Lee has met with key equipment suppliers, such as ASML and Zeiss, in an attempt to address yield and process bottlenecks. However, these efforts have yet to produce significant improvements, which led to the company's decision to postpone mass production at its state-of-the-art fab in Texas.
Experts point out that Samsung's struggles are not just technical. They highlight deep-rooted internal issues, including a slow decision-making process, excessive bureaucracy, and inadequate compensation, which are believed to bweakenSamsung's competitiveness. While the company is eager to spend tens of billions of dollars on production capacity, it does not spend enough on R&D and personnel.
