Samsung Foundry began a pathfinder production run on its 1.4-nanometre SF1.4 node at the P3 line of its Pyeongtaek campus on May 18, 2026, according to a regulatory disclosure filed with the Korea Exchange. The company said gate-all-around (GAA) yield on its current 2nm SF2 line had crossed 70 percent in the quarter ending March 31, a threshold internally required to authorise the next-node ramp.
The disclosure, signed by foundry head Choi Si-young, names two early customers for SF1.4: Qualcomm and Tesla. Volume tape-out is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2027, with first commercial shipment in the first half of 2028.
Backside Power and Yield Detail
SF1.4 is Samsung's first node to use backside power delivery, a technique that moves power rails to the underside of the wafer to free routing space on top. According to the filing, the pathfinder lot consists of 24 wafers running a test chip designed by Qualcomm's Snapdragon team.
The 70 percent SF2 yield figure refers to defect-density-adjusted die yield on the production-mix mobile system-on-chip currently shipped to a single Chinese smartphone customer, identified in earlier filings as Xiaomi. Choi told analysts on the company's first-quarter call that the figure had been audited by an external party but declined to name the auditor.
Capex and Competition
Samsung Electronics reaffirmed its 2026 foundry capital expenditure target of 38 trillion won, unchanged from the figure given in January. About 19 trillion won is earmarked for the P3 and P4 lines at Pyeongtaek and 4 trillion won for the Taylor, Texas, fab, where construction is two quarters behind schedule due to a labour dispute settled in March.
TSMC, the market leader, began 2nm mass production at its Hsinchu Fab 20 in March 2026 and is preparing a 1.4nm pilot for the second half of 2027. Intel Foundry achieved 18A risk production in February but has not announced a 1.4nm equivalent.
Customer Allocation
According to a note circulated to clients on May 19 by Counterpoint Research analyst Akshara Bassi, Qualcomm has reserved 18 percent of SF1.4 initial wafer starts and Tesla 11 percent. The remainder is allocated to undisclosed customers, with Samsung's own Exynos division understood to take the largest share.
The company will hold its annual foundry forum in San Jose on June 23.