TSMC's 4 nm node reportedly working wonders for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus with a yield rate of over 70%

It is no secret that the Snapdragon 888 and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 failed to live up to expectations due to bad thermals. Many have rightfully attributed that to both SoCs being fabbed on Samsung LSI's 5nm and 4nm nodes. That's why Qualcomm has been eyeing TSMC's 4 nm capacity for quite some time. A previous report speculated that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus manufactured in TSMC's facilities could arrive as early as Q2, 2022.

Qualcomm's decision to switch over to TSMC seems to be bearing fruit, according to information obtained by Twitter leaker @Shadow_leak, who states that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus (SM8475) has over 70% yield rate, which is significantly better than Samsung's node. OEMs will undoubtedly line up in droves to get a piece of Qualcomm's shiny new chipset, and it'll be interesting to see if Qualcomm can fulfil the orders.

A TSMC-made Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus chipset, while slated to outperform its Samsung LSI sibling by a long shot, will leave a sour taste in the mouths of early adaptors of Qualcomm silicon especially owners of devices like the Galaxy S22, Xiaomi 12 and OnePlus 10 Pro. Until now, the differences between Plus and non-Plus Qualcomm SoCs have been marginal, at best, and the delta could be a bit too much should the chipmaker switch foundries.

However, Qualcomm is also working on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1's successor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, also rumoured to use TSMC's 4 nm node. Yet another report speculates that Qualcomm could be one of the first adaptors of Samsung LSI's 3 nm GAAFET node. There's a lot of conflicting information on the internet right now, and it's best to wait until some more leaks pop up before jumping to conclusions.