Who Is Leading The 2nm Process Race?

TSMC is leading in terms of yields, followed by Intel and then Samsung

By Mark LaPedus

Intel, Samsung and TSMC are separately expected to ship their respective 2nm process technologies in the second half of 2025.

So which company is ahead in the 2nm race right now? So far, Intel, Samsung and TSMC have yet to announce volume shipments for their 2nm processes. But based on the yield rates, TSMC is the leader right now, followed by Intel and then Samsung, according to an analyst. Yield is the percentage of usable chips produced from a wafer.

“We continue to hear constructive feedback on Intel’s 18A process and hear that current yield rates have improved to 55%, up from 50% a quarter ago. This compares favorably to Samsung’s 2nm process (SF2), which we believe is tracking at ~40%, but is below TSMC’s N2 process, where yields are currently at 65%,” said John Vinh, an analyst with KeyBanc Capital Markets, in a research note.

“This continues to put INTC on track to ramp Panther Lake in late 2025 and puts IFS (Intel Foundry Service) on a trajectory to enter mass production at 65-70%, which will put IFS ahead of Samsung foundry and but below TSMC, which will likely be closer to 75%,” Vinh said.

In the second half of 2025, Intel hopes to ship its first processor line based on its 18A process. This processor is codenamed Panther Lake.

“INTC will have a customer-facing variant called 18A-P, which is expected to enter mass production in 2H26. If INTC were able to hit these KPIs, we believe this will likely be well ahead of expectations and would give us greater confidence in IFS moving forward,” Vinh said.

“While there are headlines indicating that INTC could skip 18A-P for its foundry customers and move directly to Intel 14A, we think this is unlikely as 18A-P appears to be competitive with TSMC N2 and 14A isn’t expected to ramp into mass production until late 2027/early 2028,” he added.

All of this could easily change in the high-stakes foundry business. So stay tuned.