Samsung Elec Starts 3-Nanometre Chip Production to Lure New Foundry Customers

The logo of Samsung Electronics at the company's Seocho building in Seoul, South Korean on Oct. 28, 2021, after South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics posted a 28-percent jump in operating profit. Jung Yeon-je /AFP via Getty Images

SEOUL—Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. said on Thursday it has begun mass producing chips with advanced 3-nanometre technology, the first to do so globally, as it seeks new clients to catch far bigger rival TSMC in contract chip manufacturing.

Compared with conventional 5-nanometre chips, the newly developed first-gen 3-nanometre process can reduce power consumption by up to 45 percent, improve performance by 23 percent, and reduce area by 16 percent, Samsung said in a statement.