Samsung Foundry's bleeding-edge 1.4nm node pushed to 2029, a full two years later than planned

Samsung Foundry to mass produce its bleeding-edge 1.4nm process node in 2029, a full two years later than its planned 2027 timeline.

Gaming Editor

Published Jul 3, 2025 5:05 PM CDT

1 minute & 45 seconds read time

TL;DR: Samsung Foundry has delayed mass production of its advanced 1.4nm semiconductor process node to 2029, two years later than planned, to improve profitability and focus on enhancing 2nm process utilization. This shift allows TSMC to lead in 1.4nm production, highlighting Samsung's strategic move toward process completeness over speed.

Samsung Foundry is expected to mass-produce its next-generation 1.4nm process node in 2029, a full two years later than the company had originally planned.

In a new report published by ETnews and picked up by insider @Jukanrosleve, we're hearing that Samsung Foundry has officially announced a delay of the mass production of its bleeding-edge 1.4nm process node. We're now to expect a mass production target of 2029, a full two years later than initially planned.

This move is looked at as an attempt to improve profitability by delaying the 1.4nm production, shifting focus to enhancing the completeness of processes 2nm and above by improving their utilization rates. Samsung Electronics announced its changed plans with its partners on July 1 at the "SAFE Forum 2025" event held at the Samsung Financial Campus in Seocho-gu, Seoul.

Samsung Foundry Executive Vice President and Head of Design Platform Development at the Foundry Business Division, Shin Jong-shin, announced that the introduction of the company's new 1.4nm process is now set for 2029. Back in 2022, Samsung said that it would be mass producing 1.4nm semiconductors in 2027, but this has shifted, and will allow TSMC to beat them by an entire year, with TSMC ready to mass produce 1.4nm chips in 2028.

Read more: Samsung delays bleeding-edge 1.4nm node, puts its semiconductor eggs into its 2nm process

Samsung Foundry has competed with TSMC for the "world's first" title when it comes to advanced semiconductor process nodes, with milestones that Samsung hit first including 10nm in 2016, and 3nm in 2022, both of which were ahead of TSMC. But, it has constantly faced evaluations that it lags in process completeness, so being first for Samsung doesn't really mean much when it's a mess in the end.

An industry insider added: "Samsung Foundry has an inferior process competitiveness compared to TSMC. The adjustment of the 1.4nm process schedule is a strategy to focus on enhancing the practical profitability of the foundry business rather than competing for the world's first title".