Good news for Samsung: the company has hit the headlines for reasons not related to the Note 7. In a statement released today, the Galaxy maker announced that it had become the first to mass-produce SoC products using 10-nanometer FinFET technology.
Samsung, which was also the first company to mass produce a FinFET mobile application processor in January 2015, has an exclusive deal with Qualcomm to manufacture its Snapdragon 830 processors using the 10nm process, according to South Korea's Electronic Times.
"The industry's first mass production of 10nm FinFET technology demonstrates our leadership in advanced process technology," said Jong Shik Yoon, Executive Vice President, Head of Foundry Business at Samsung Electronics. "We will continue our efforts to innovate scaling technologies and provide differentiated total solutions to our customers."
The 10nm process is used to build an advanced 3D transistor structure that improves on the previous 14nm technology. It gives 27 percent better performance and 40 percent lower power consumption compared to its predecessor, which means not only do we get more powerful mobile devices but ones with longer battery life, too. The 10nm process also allows 30 percent more chips per wafer.
Devices featuring chips made using the first-generation 10nm process (10LPE) will start appearing early next year. The second-gen tech (10LPP), which features a "performance boost," arrives in the second half of 2017, possibly in the Snapdragon 831.
In all likelihood, the Snapdragon 830 will appear in the US version of the Galaxy S8. With the Note 7 recall expected to cost the company a total of $5.3 billion and cause untold damage to its reputation, Samsung will be relying on the next S series to do well and help erase the memory of 2016.