Apple will likely be TSMC’s first customer for the latter’s 2nm process, as it is reported to use the technology to mass produce the A20, which is said to be found in next year’s iPhone 18 series. With the Taiwanese semiconductor giant reportedly accepting orders for its next-generation node from April 1, we could see other companies besides Apple wanting to obtain a technological edge. According to one rumor, one of those firms will be Qualcomm, and it plans on leveraging the 2nm process for not one but two chipset releases in 2026, one of which will likely be the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 3.
Second chipset release mass produced on TSMC’s 2nm technology could be a downgraded version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 3
The interesting bit about the rumor from Digital Chat Station is that he does not write anywhere in his Weibo post if the 2nm node belongs to TSMC, Samsung, or both. What it does mention is that the SM8950, which is presumably the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 3, will arrive in 2026 and will be fabricated on the improved lithography. As for the SM8945, our guess is that this SoC will be a less powerful version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 3 that will utilize the same 2nm manufacturing process, but it could sport a less capable GPU or downclocked CPU cores.
For all intents and purposes, the SM8945 could be one of the ‘Snapdragon 8s’ members that Qualcomm adds to its chipset lineup, and if we were to go by the official name chronologically, it would probably be called the Snapdragon 8s Gen 6. Coming to the 2nm process, TSMC is not the only foundry pursuing the goal of garnering orders from lucrative customers, though it has a higher chance of accumulating orders because its trial production run reported about weeks ago hit yields of 60 percent, which suggests that the figure could be higher now.
Samsung is also racing to achieve favorable yields, with its 2nm GAA process said to have touched 30 percent yields during the test production run of the Exynos 2600. Given how each wafer on this lithography is estimated to cost $30,000 per unit, it is no surprise that Qualcomm has been reported in the past to be exploring a dual-sourcing option where it utilizes technologies from both TSMC’s and Samsung’s foundries in an effort to lower production costs.
However, this approach is only viable if the Korean giant can improve its 2nm yields. Sadly, Digital Chat Station once mentioned that Qualcomm has little choice but to exclusively place Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 3 orders with TSMC. Assuming there is a change in the San Diego firm’s plans, we will update our readers accordingly.
News Source: Digital Chat Station
