On the 10th, Qualcomm of the United States unveiled the specifications of’Snapdragon X65′, a next-generation 5G (5th generation mobile communication) modem chip solution. The 5G modem chip is a semiconductor that transmits and receives data in 5G smartphones.
Qualcomm is a fabless (semiconductor design company) without a factory. The foundry (consignment of semiconductor production) is entrusted with chip production, but in the semiconductor industry, the analysis that Qualcomm X65 producer has been selected as the Samsung Electronics foundry division is dominant. It means that it has won another large-scale order contract following Qualcomm’s flagship AP product’Snapdragon 888′ for smartphones.
Qualcomm’s 5G promotional display. Provided by Reuters Yonhap News
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More than 1 trillion won in sales from Qualcomm foundry orders
Qualcomm’s X65 is one of the advantages of 100 times faster data processing speed compared to the early LTE (4th generation mobile communication) modem chip. On the day, Cristian Amon, president of Qualcomm (the next CEO) explained, “The X65 is the world’s first modem-RF system to support 10 Gigabit (Gb) class 5G speed.”
Qualcomm is currently supplying prototype Snapdragon X65 to smartphone makers and aims to’mass production within the year’. Full-fledged delivery is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year. It is expected to enter Apple’s iPhone AP (a semiconductor that integrates a modem chip, CPU, GPU, etc.).
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Qualcomm President Christian Amon (next CEO) interviewing reporters from the Korea Economic Daily at’CES 2020′ held in Las Vegas last January. Hankyung DB
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Qualcomm is the world’s No. 1 company in terms of modem chips and APs for smartphones. According to market research firm Gartner, Qualcomm ranked 5th in the world with sales of 17.9 billion dollars (about 20 trillion won) last year. In front of Qualcomm, there are only Intel ($70.2 billion), Samsung Electronics ($56.2 billion), SK Hynix ($25.3 billion), and Micron ($22.1 billion).
Qualcomm is in charge of design only, and production is left to foundries (consigned semiconductor production) such as Samsung Electronics and TSMC. In the foundry market, it is called the’big hand’ along with the US Apple. The production of premium chips utilizes TSMC and Samsung Electronics at the same time. Recently, it is leaning toward Samsung Electronics. A representative example is the consignment production of the flagship product’Snapdragon 888′ AP in the 5nm process of Samsung Electronics’ Foundry Division.
As Qualcomm unveils the X65 Modep chip, interest in which foundry will be responsible for’outsourcing production’ is also growing. This is because, given Qualcomm’s dominance in the global modem chip market, if Qualcomm outsourced production, it is expected to generate more than 1 trillion won in sales. Samsung Electronics’ foundry division is estimated to have surpassed 15 trillion won in sales for the first time last year, taking charge of the production of flagship chips for Qualcomm and Nvidia.
Leading production in Samsung Electronics’ 4nm foundry process
Qualcomm did not disclose the name of the company that entrusted the production of the X65, but gave a hint. Qualcomm explained, “The X65 is produced on the 4nm process.”
Currently, the main process of Samsung Electronics and TSMC is the 5nm process. 5nm means the line width (the gap between the transistor gates), and the thinner the line width, the more compact, low-power, and high-performance semiconductors can be produced.
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Introducing Qualcomm’s’X65′ and’X62′ modem chips. There is a content that is produced in the 4nm process. Qualcomm homepage capture
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Only Samsung Electronics and TSMC have released the 4nm process technology roadmap (plan). Overseas information technology (IT) sites are putting weight on Samsung Electronics by posting a post stating that “Qualcomm’s X65 modem chip is produced by Samsung Electronics’ Foundry Division.” Last year, Qualcomm’s core chips were produced by Samsung Electronics.
‘Anandtech’, a site that specializes in bloggers’ news and reviews, said, “Both the X65 and X62 (submodels) are manufactured at 4nm.” did. Blogs specializing in Samsung Electronics such as Sam Mobile are also posting articles one after another, citing Anandtech’s article, saying, “Samsung Electronics produces the modem chip of Qualcomm X65 in the 4nm process.”
Of course, there are many evaluations that it is difficult to trust the articles of these blogs or specialized sites 100%. This is because there have been many cases of posting rumor-level articles so far.
Faster development of 4nm process… Pointed out “I need to increase the yield”
Nevertheless, in the semiconductor industry, it is weighty that Samsung Electronics, not TSMC, is in charge of Qualcomm’s X65 production. Considering the technology roadmaps announced by TSMC and Samsung Electronics so far, only Samsung Electronics can produce’prototypes’ at the 4nm process as planned by Qualcomm and mass-produce this year.
Samsung Electronics’ Foundry Division has already announced since last August that “4nm 1st generation process development is in progress and 2nd generation 4nm process technology development is accelerated.” In addition, he expressed his confidence that “improving the power performance area (PPA) of the 2nd generation 4nm process will further expand Samsung’s leadership in providing advanced process technology.”
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Technology roadmap for major semiconductor companies. Provided by Shinhan Financial Investment
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TSMC has selected the mass production period of the 4nm process as ‘2023’, the next year. It is also confirmed in the remarks of Chairman Mark Liu, who is currently leading TSMC. He said at a press conference held in June last year, “TSMC plans to release N5P (improved 5nm process) in 2022 and N4 (4nm process) in 2023.” According to Chairman Liu’s remarks, TSMC cannot mass-produce Qualcomm’s X65 in 4nm process within this year.
Of course, there is a possibility that TSMC will accelerate the mass production of the 4nm process. In Taiwan last month, a report came out that TSMC is building a 4nm plant. This is to produce Intel’s GPU (graphics processing unit).
The production schedule is reported to be pilot production in the fourth quarter of this year and full-scale production next year. However, Intel and Qualcomm’s products are different for GPUs and modem chips, respectively. TSMC’s 4nm line is likely to be’Intel only’. The observation that Samsung Electronics’ Foundry Division is still in charge of mass production of the X65 is fueling the situation.
Some say that the homework of the foundry division of Samsung Electronics is not easy. Although it is accelerating the development of ultra-fine processes such as 5nm, 4nm, and 3nm, analysis continues to be raised in the semiconductor industry that the foundry’yield’ (the ratio of good products to the total production volume) is lower than that of competitors. If the yield is low, profitability such as operating profit deteriorates even after winning a contract.
Reporter Hwang Jeong-soo [email protected]
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