By Kwanwoo Jun


Samsung Electronics Co. has begun mass production of semiconductors using the most advanced 3-nanometer chip-making technology, becoming the first company to do so as it looks to get ahead of rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

The South Korean tech giant said Thursday that volume production of the 3-nanometer chips--the first employing the gate-all-around technology--has started at its assembly lines.

The nanometer--one billionth of a meter--is the transistor width unit commonly applied when processing a chip. The smaller the number, the more advanced the chip.

Samsung said the 3-nanometer technology enables new chips to boost performance by 23%, reduce power consumption by 45% and save the product size by 16% in the initial production phase. It said it expects performance to improve and both power consumption and the product size to decrease further in the next phase.

Samsung has yet to elaborate on yields for the new chips, which are crucial for their commercial success later.

TSMC is set to debut the most advanced chip-making technology in the second half of 2022 amid reports that Apple Inc. and Intel Corp. are testing the Taiwanese company's 3-nanometer chip-making technology.


Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-29-22 2308ET