Low yields could force Samsung to seek foundry partners

Numerous large companies know that one of the best ways to stay ahead of the competition is to try and make everything in-house. This is something Samsung has been trying to do, from making its own displays, memory, and chipsets. Unfortunately, it looks like Samsung might have run into trouble producing its Exynos 2500 chipset. This could lead to it potentially seeking foundry partners to solve this issue.

Poor yields

According to a report from Korean publication, The Bell, Samsung is exploring the idea of working with foundry partners to solve its chipset manufacturing problem. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Samsung running into issues with its Exynos 2500. The chipset was rumored to be originally intended for the Galaxy S25 series.

Unfortunately, due to low yields, Samsung is said to be ditching its plans and go all-in with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite. This new report suggests that things could be worse than we thought. So much so that it has gotten to the point where Samsung might need to work with other companies in order to ensure the future viability of its chip manufacturing division, LSI.

This does not mean that Samsung is giving up on making its own chipsets entirely. Instead, the company could seek out some kind of “multi-faceted collaboration”. It could also expand beyond mobile to things like automotive and communications. This means that while Samsung could turn to future foundry partners for help, ultimately it might still choose to try and do everything in-house where possible.

Hopping on board the TSMC train

The report does not specifically mention which foundry partners Samsung is looking into. However, there is a good chance Samsung could turn to TSMC. For those not in the know, TSMC is basically the world’s leading chipset maker. The company basically makes the chips used by some of the world’s largest tech companies.

This includes Apple, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Intel, and MediaTek, just to name a few. One of the reasons why TSMC is extremely favored is due to its lead in the chip manufacturing space. The company is typically first in line to use the latest production processes. This is why companies like Apple heavily favor TSMC as a way to gain an edge over its competitors.

This is also why it would not be a complete shock if Samsung were to go with TSMC to help produce its Exynos 2500 chipsets and future chips.