[News] Samsung Reportedly Bets on 4–7nm with 30% Price Gap over TSMC, Eyeing Markets China Hasn’t Entered

While Intel has shifted focus to 14A from 18A in a strategic trade-off, Samsung has reportedly made its compromises by prioritizing on 2nm and 4nm instead of 1.4nm, as per ZDNet. Meanwhile, Chosun Biz reveals that the struggling semiconductor giant also plans to boost demand in sub-7nm processes—still beyond the reach of Chinese rivals—by pricing the nodes about 30% below TSMC’s.

Chosun Biz suggests that for its 4nm process, Samsung aims to win orders by enhancing power efficiency by about 20% with the SF4U. According to Samsung, SF4U is a premium 4nm variant using optical shrink technology to enhance PPA (power, performance and area), with mass production planned for 2025.

Although Samsung’s 4nm, 5nm, and 7nm nodes trail TSMC in chip performance, the company competes by pricing them about 30% lower and maintaining yields above 70% amid fierce price battles, the report notes. According to an industry insider cited by Chosun Biz, Samsung’s 4nm and 5nm processes have improved enough to rival TSMC, giving it a key advantage as Chinese competitors have yet to develop these nodes.

Sub 2nm Update

Meanwhile, Chosun Biz reports that despite reaching over 40% yield—enough for mass production—Samsung is still struggling to land major orders for its sub-3nm chips. Initial evaluations with NVIDIA and Qualcomm fell short of expectations, prompting the company to shift focus from rushing 1nm production to improving performance on its current nodes, the report adds.

According to etnews, Samsung, at the SAFE Forum 2025 event on July 1st, announced the decision to delay 1.4nm mass production by two years—now targeting 2029 instead of the originally planned 2027 launch.

Instead, Chosun Biz suggests that Samsung plans to advance its 2nm process by introducing a third-generation (SF2P+) node next year, boosting overall performance by over 20%.

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(Photo credit: Samsung)