According to a new report out of South Korea, Qualcomm has tapped the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company or TSMC for the production of its next-generation 7-nanometer semiconductor chips. If this report is correct, it would signal a big move for Qualcomm which is currently aligned with a major player in the semiconductor industry.
The report claims that Qualcomm has moved to TSMC for the production of its 7nm chips. If this is true, it would be ending its foundry partnership with Samsung Electronics, one of the giants of the semiconductor industry.
There’s no confirmation as yet but if Qualcomm really is moving to TSMC, it would be the second biggest customer that Samsung ends up losing. Apple was the first to move its application processor production business from Samsung to TSMC.
Qualcomm has reportedly been designing and developing its 7nm Snapdragon processor using a chip development tool that has been distributed by TSMC since the second half of last year. The company is said to be planning to mass produce this chip between the end of this year and early next year.
Samsung’s business may not see an immediate hit as it’s already contracted to produce Qualcomm’s 10nm application processor and modem chips but the impact could be visible starting next year when it’s not able to secure new customers to fill the gap that Qualcomm leaves behind.
Qualcomm will leave behind a substantial gap if it decides to go since it accounts for 40 percent of the entire sales of Samsung’s foundry business. None of this has been officially confirmed as yet and it may take a while before the companies say anything about this.