Samsung is reportedly working on a 2nm node for the Exynos 2600

2024-05-23

Earlier this month Samsung announced that it is preparing its foundries for mass production of its first 3nm Exynos chipset using its Gate All Around (GAA) design. It’s not clear which chipset this is, though. Exynos 2500 for next year’s Galaxy S25? Perhaps. Or is it the Exynos W1000, which should launch in a couple of months time with the Galaxy Watch7? Also possible.

The company is also looking to the future as ETNews reports that work has begun on a 2nm chip – the Exynos 2600, which is code named Thetis. Mass production is expected to start in the second half of 2025 so that there would be supply for the Galaxy S26.

Some reports claim that Qualcomm will stick to a 4nm node for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, which will give the Exynos 2500 should have a semiconductor advantage over it. Other reports suggest that the Gen 4 chip will be produced on the newer 3nm node from TSMC (N3E). Apple reportedly secured 90% of TSMC’s 3nm manufacturing capacity last year, though demand for this year may have been lowered, so plans may have changed part way through.

That will be the case for later this year, anyway, a Taiwanese news outlet claims that Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 for Galaxy chips will be fabbed on Samsung’s 3nm GAA Plus (aka GAP) node starting in 2025.

TSMC is also working on a 2nm node, but its foundries will likely be busy churning out chips for the iPhone 17 Pro and some Macs. The iPhone 17 series is coming in 2026, so we will see a 2nm fight between Apple and Samsung.

Source (in Korean)