The SC
INT'L MOD
Technology companies are currently engaged in a frantic race among themselves to control the electronic chip industry, which has become the subject of unconventional international competition, as these companies compete to pump billions of dollars into research and development operations related to this industry, which enables them to control its secrets and possess sensitive secrets. Related to how to develop electronic chips and make them more powerful.
Electronic chips are considered the backbone of the operation of all machines and smart electronic devices, and this industry has turned into a tool for maximizing influence in the global market. Whoever excels in it in the 21st century will be able to determine the course of many things in the entire world.
The world's chip industry giant
Today, there is no company in the world that manufactures electronic chips more accurately than those manufactured by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, known as TSMC, which controls more than 50 percent of global chip production, followed by the South Korean company Samsung in second place, with a share exceeding The 18 percent.
TSMC and Samsung are the only two companies capable of producing the world's most advanced chips, manufactured according to sub-5nm technologies, with clear progress in favor of TSMC in this area. Samsung lags behind TSMC by two years in 4nm chip manufacturing technology, and by one year in 3nm.
The importance of nanometer accuracy
Nanometer accuracy is considered essential in the method of manufacturing electronic chips. The process of reducing nanometer accuracy is a difficult and expensive task. The cost of moving from one manufacturing accuracy to another requires a complete renewal of the equipment, and this costs millions of dollars. Also, achieving a smaller accuracy has become It is more difficult due to the many problems and errors that accompany this process.
In conclusion, the smaller the nanometer manufacturing accuracy, the smaller the size of the chip, the greater its performance, and the lower its power consumption, even though it comes with a higher transistor density.
TSMC is in danger of losing control
It seems that the reality of TSMC's control over the electronic chip industry may change in the coming years, as Samsung seeks to pull the rug of this industry from under the feet of the Taiwanese company, which the Korean company already acknowledged a few days ago, in the words of the head of the company's hardware solutions sector, Kai. Hyun Kyung, declaring that Samsung now has an advantage and can overtake TSMC within five years.
This optimism comes from Samsung based on the fact that it was able to use the Gate All Around-FET technology known as GAA-FET in the process of manufacturing chips with a precision of 3 nm, while TSMC will delay in using this technology, until the date of producing chips with a precision of 2 nm in In 2026, it is currently content with producing chips with a resolution of 3 nanometers according to the old Fin-FET technology.
According to Samsung, its GAA-FET technology, which it refers to as MBCFET, provides 30 percent greater performance, 50 percent lower power consumption, and allows for a 45 percent reduction in chip size with Fin-FET technology.
What is GAA-FET technology and what is the secret of its power?
GAA-FET technology embodies the transition of the electronic chip industry from the classical design stage, currently represented by Fin-FET, to a more modern and advanced stage.
Toshiba started with it
GAA-FET technology was first introduced in 1988 by Toshiba, then this technology was used on a small scale in 2006, then Samsung redesigned it and tested its application on electronic chips in 2017, announcing in 2019 that it had achieved a technical breakthrough. In this field, it succeeded in the summer of 2022 in launching this technology at the commercial level, by manufacturing the first chip equipped with GAA technology and with an accuracy of 3 nanometers.
The secret to the power of GAA-FET
GAA-FET technology has two unique advantages over the old Fin-FET technology. First, it is able to withstand higher electrical current power, and it prevents power leakage due to the way it is designed, while the way GAA-FET allows it to extend nanowires in chips, in a way Horizontal and on top of each other, they improve the structure of the transistors and make them able to reduce the voltage level and improve performance.
As a result, electronic devices that use a chip based on GAA-FET technology will be faster and consume less power than chips manufactured using Fin-FET processing technology.
In the summer of 2022, Samsung has already shipped the first batch of 3-nm chips that support GAA-FET technology, and it will work to launch the second generation of this technology during the year 2023, as it intends to improve the standards of strength, size and speed provided by this technology by 30%. percent, as part of the planned path to narrow the gap with TSMC and overcome it during the next five years.
Does Samsung have what it takes to topple the chip giant?
Writer and technical analyst Alan Al-Qarih said, in an interview with the “Eqtisad Sky News Arabia” website, that the South Korean company Samsung is considered one of the few companies that can compete with the Taiwanese company TSMC, the giant of the world’s chip market, and it is already preparing itself, perhaps assuming the throne of the chip industry. There is no industrial or political barrier preventing it from achieving this goal, indicating that from an industrial and technical standpoint, Samsung possesses all the capabilities that enable it to reach this goal, but not easily.
American satisfaction
Al-Qarih adds that, from a political standpoint, Samsung is considered a strategic ally of the American party, which is the only party capable of preventing it from achieving its goal through sanctions, as it does with Chinese companies, and therefore the American satisfaction that Samsung enjoys is considered one of the most important elements of the strength on which the company depends to achieve its goal, this is in addition to the need for many countries in the world to move the electronic chip industry away from tense geographical areas such as Taiwan, whose territory hosts TSMC’s laboratories.
Winner so far: TSMC
Technology analyst Alan Al-Qarih stressed that there is nothing impossible in the chip industry, but what must be taken into consideration is that TSMC is still the most prominent winner in this industry to date, as the chips it manufactures are considered attractive to companies, but the technology... GAA-FET, which Samsung was able to introduce commercially, succeeded in getting rid of some of the defects of the old FIN-FET technology, and thus the Korean company was able to provide a more durable and efficient product, and this point in particular may bring about a shift that will not be in TSMC’s favor in the next few years. .
What does it mean for South Korea to dominate the industry?
According to Al-Qarih, as it has become known, whoever controls the manufacture of electronic chips in the 21st century is like the one who had influence in controlling oil supplies in the 20th century, considering that Taiwan’s loss of first place in this industry to South Korea means that the latter will have influence. Greater economic, political and military, pointing out that America and China are today engaged in a fierce race at the national level to control this industry, while Samsung and TSMC are competing to share the largest share of the chip cake.
