Snapdragon 865 to enter mass production by Q4 2019 or Q1 2020: New report

We are only just seeing the first Snapdragon 855 powered smartphones arrive in for testing, but South Korean media is reporting that Qualcomm is already finalizing plans for the production of its next flagship SoC, the Snapdragon 865. The manufacturer contracted Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to produce its first 7 nm chipset, the Snapdragon 855. Qualcomm had previously partnered with Samsung up to its 10 nm chipsets.

Now, the two companies look set to revive that partnership for the Snapdragon 865. According to The Elec, Qualcomm and Samsung are basing the Snapdragon 865 on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography compared to the conventional argon fluorine (ArF) technology that TSMC used for the Snapdragon 855.

Qualcomm has moved away from working with TSMC for functionality and power-efficiency reasons. Samsung Semiconductor Engineering will start producing the Snapdragon 865 from September with an eye for mass production as early as February 2020. The company hopes to produce around 18,000 wafers per month. TSMC is currently the largest chip foundry producer with Samsung in second place. IBM and NVIDIA have announced that they will be using Samsung for its future chipsets too, which may put the frighteners on TSMC.