Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 for Galaxy could be manufactured on Samsung's 3GAP node; regular version to use TSMC N3E

The upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is all but confirmed to be manufactured on TSMC's N4P process node, putting it at a theoretical disadvantage against the TSMC N3B-based A17 Bionic. However, the situation might be more complex next year if a recent Tweet by leaker @tech_reve is accurate.

Apparently, Qualcomm plans to dual-source the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. One variant of the SoC, likely earmarked for general use, will be manufactured on TSMC N3E. On the other hand, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 for Galaxy, its Samsung-only version, will be made on Samsung Foundries' 3GAP node. Interestingly, the Dream Team chip, aka Exynos 2500, is also expected to follow in its footsteps.

While it isn't uncommon for OEMs to source chips from two different foundries, disaster ensued (remember Chipgate?) the one time Apple tried it with the A9 in 2015. However, instead of general audiences feeling the pinch, only Samsung users will be affected this time. Nonetheless, it'll be interesting to see how the two Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 variants fare against each other in the real world.

Samsung Foundries' less-than-stellar track record makes it easy to dismiss their products as inferior. However, its gate-all-around transistor design could help bridge the massive performance/thermal/efficiency gap between similarly-specced TSMC offerings. That, combined with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4's new Nuvia CPU cores and external dGPU support, could give it the much-needed competitive edge to take on Apple.

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