Samsung does not guarantee the production of high‑quality 2‑nm chips, a concern for Qualcomm.

Brief overview of the situation

Qualcomm traditionally does not rely on a single contractor for manufacturing its own chips. Over time partners have included TSMC, Samsung, and even SMIC. However, in 2024 the question of collaborating with Samsung to produce 2‑nm processors was called into doubt due to quality issues.

Why Samsung fails to meet requirements

According to Business Korea, Samsung Electronics is currently unable to guarantee the required level of quality when working on a 2‑nm process node. Rumors suggest that only about 20 % of chips manufactured by Samsung in this range were suitable for further use. For mass production Qualcomm expects at least 70 % yield; below that threshold profitability drops. Meanwhile TSMC consistently achieves 60–70 %, attracting not only Qualcomm but also AMD, Apple, and Nvidia.

Prospects for Samsung

Experts believe that if Samsung can raise its yield of good chips to a level acceptable to Qualcomm, cooperation could resume. In the meantime Qualcomm continues to seek as many contractors as possible to minimize supply disruption risks.

Conclusion

In the near future most new Qualcomm processors will be produced by TSMC, and Samsung remains on the brink: until it improves 2‑nm chip quality it will not become a primary partner. However the company still has a chance to regain Qualcomm’s trust if it demonstrates technological viability in its 1‑nm technology adoption efforts.