TSMC’s dominance in advanced chip manufacturing is starting to create a problem for many of the companies that rely on it. With 3nm capacity reportedly stretched thin, supply has become so tight that the biggest long-term customers, especially Apple, are getting first priority. That leaves a growing list of brands and chip designers searching for another reliable place to build their next-generation processors.
Samsung is positioning itself as the most realistic alternative. The company’s second-generation 2nm Gate-All-Around process, known as SF2P, is being presented as a strong option for customers who can’t secure the production slots they want elsewhere. Reports say Samsung has already completed the basic design work for its SF2P node, and it’s preparing additional manufacturing strategies to attract more orders as demand for cutting-edge nodes continues to climb.
One of Samsung’s biggest goals this year is said to be dramatically expanding interest in its 2nm business, with an ambitious target of boosting 2nm GAA orders by 130 percent. That’s a major jump, but Samsung may see the current market imbalance as the perfect opening. The company’s first-generation 2nm GAA process has reportedly reached around 60 percent yield after being used for mass production of the Exynos 2600, suggesting the technology is becoming more stable and suitable for larger commercial commitments.
The bigger play, however, appears to be SF2P. Samsung is looking to raise performance and power efficiency with this second-generation 2nm process, potentially convincing customers who aren’t getting priority access at TSMC to move future chip programs to Samsung Foundry. To support that push, Samsung is also reportedly preparing a “hybrid” semiconductor production system designed to quickly switch manufacturing capacity between advanced logic chips and memory, depending on what customers need most.
That flexibility is expected to be centered around Samsung’s P5 facility at its Pyeongtaek campus in Gyeonggi Province. The plant is described as a “triple fab,” with three separate floors that can support both memory and foundry production. In practice, this could give Samsung a way to adapt output based on demand swings, prioritizing whichever products are bringing in the most business at a given time.
Samsung is also expanding its manufacturing footprint in the United States. The company’s Taylor, Texas plant is expected to begin operations in the second half of this year, and test operations reportedly started in March. If timelines hold, this could strengthen Samsung’s ability to serve global customers who want more geographic diversity in their chip supply chain.
Still, moving customers to a new cutting-edge node isn’t only about capacity and availability. Efficiency remains the metric Samsung must improve most if it wants its 2nm GAA technology to become the preferred choice for premium smartphone and high-performance chips. The Exynos 2600 has reportedly shown peak power draw of around 30W in benchmarks such as Geekbench 6, which can translate into higher heat output and reduced battery life in real-world devices. That kind of power behavior can influence phone makers to favor competing chip variants, especially when better efficiency results in cooler performance and longer battery endurance.
The next stage for Samsung, then, is clear: prove that its second-generation 2nm SF2P can deliver not just competitive yields, but also the power efficiency customers expect from leading-edge silicon. With advanced-node supply constraints continuing to shape the market, Samsung has a timely opportunity to win new foundry clients—if it can offer the right balance of performance, thermals, and dependable production volume.
