Samsung’s Taylor fab in Texas has booked its scheduled output before the plant has shipped a commercial wafer, according to BusinessKorea.
The $37B facility, under construction since 2022, begins trial operations around the end of September and moves to mass production next year. Orders already taken include Tesla’s next-generation AI5 processor, Broadcom’s next-generation communications silicon and an AI chip for smart devices from Arm.
Yield has improved alongside the order book. Samsung’s 2nm process ran near 60 percent early this year and now sits around 80 percent, a level the company treats as ready for volume production. Initial capacity is 50,000 wafers a month, against roughly 80,000 at rival TSMC.
Samsung is also preparing a second plant on the site. Groundbreaking is expected by the end of the year with production targeted for 2030, and partners have been asked to qualify equipment early so installation can begin on schedule.
The push is Samsung’s clearest attempt to capture customers hunting for a second source to TSMC. The foundry market remains lopsided: TSMC held 72.5 percent of second-quarter revenue while Samsung slipped below 6 percent.
Whether Taylor changes that depends on execution. A fab that fills before it starts is a demand signal, but 2nm customers will judge Samsung on defect density and delivery rather than signed capacity.
