Samsung Is First to Start Mass Production of 3-Nanometer Chips

(Bloomberg) — Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. kicked off mass production of 3-nanometer (3nm) chips that are more powerful and efficient than predecessors, beating rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. to a key milestone in the race to build the most advanced chips in the world.

South Korea’s largest company will begin with 3nm semiconductors for high-performance and specialized low-power computing applications before expanding to mobile processors, it said in a statement on Thursday. By applying so-called Gate-All-Around transistor architecture, Samsung’s 3nm products reduce power consumption by up to 45% and improve performance by 23% compared to 5nm chips, it said.