FinFETs Flow at Samsung, TSMC

Apple, Qualcomm are key customers

by Jessica Lipsky, EETimes, Feb. 03, 2016 – 

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Production of next-generation FinFET chips is underway at Samsung and TSMC. Although Samsung announced mass production of its 14nm LPP process technology with a major customer win in Qualcomm, TSMC may have the last laugh with Apple using its process.

In January, Samsung announced its 14nm Low Power Plus (LPP) process with 14% more performance than its LPE process, 0.8V power profile, and a 10% smaller die size over 28nm. Qualcomm will build its Snapdragon 820 chips in 14nm LPP, and Globalfoundries has licensed the process for its fabs.

"This is a great endorsement by a tier one company," said Samsung Semiconductor's Kelvin Low, senior director of foundry marketing. "Especially many years ago when we started foundry business, there was always a concern about Samsung competing with our customers."

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