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TSMC is the larger and more extensively disclosed manufacturing operation in the sources reviewed, while Samsung Foundry offers a broader integrated logic, memory and packaging proposition inside Samsung Electronics. TSMC reported US$122.42 billion in consolidated 2025 revenue, 15.0 million 12-inch-equivalent wafer shipments and more than 17 million wafers of annual capacity. Samsung’s FY2025 announcement reported important foundry production milestones and 2026 targets, but not a standalone Foundry revenue or wafer-shipment figure.
Both companies reported production of first-generation 2nm-class products in the fourth quarter of 2025. Those labels are company-specific: the available sources do not provide matched independent measurements of transistor density, performance, power, yield, defect rates, wafer cost or customer volume. The sound comparison is therefore about reported production status, business model, disclosed scale, geographic capacity, ecosystem evidence and stated plans—not a claim that one “2nm” process is automatically equivalent to the other.
TSMC and Samsung Foundry at a glance
| Comparison point | TSMC | Samsung Foundry |
|---|---|---|
| Business structure | Pure-play foundry: manufactures customers’ semiconductor products and does not design, manufacture or market chips under its own name. | Foundry business within Samsung Electronics’ broader semiconductor operations, alongside businesses such as System LSI and memory. |
| Most recent leading-edge production reported | N2 entered high-volume manufacturing in Q4 2025; a fast ramp was expected in 2026. | First-generation 2nm products entered mass production in Q4 2025. |
| 2025 scale figures disclosed | US$122.42 billion consolidated revenue; 15.0 million 12-inch-equivalent wafer shipments; 305 process technologies; 12,682 products; 534 customers. | No standalone Foundry revenue or wafer-shipment figure in the cited FY2025 company release. |
| Annual capacity | More than 17 million 12-inch-equivalent wafers, according to TSMC’s fundamentals information. | Not stated in the cited sources on a directly comparable basis. |
| Integration emphasis | Advanced and specialty process manufacturing plus advanced packaging. | Integrated logic, memory and advanced packaging, supported by the SAFE ecosystem. |
| 2026 stated direction | Management expects robust AI-related demand, while warning that macroeconomic uncertainty remains. | Foundry target of double-digit revenue growth and improved profitability, driven by advanced nodes. |
This table combines different disclosure levels. TSMC’s financial and operating figures are consolidated company results, not a TSMC-foundry segment presented against a separately reported Samsung Foundry segment. Samsung’s missing standalone figure should be treated as a disclosure limitation, not as proof that the business has no larger figure in other filings or datasets.
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The two companies use different business models
TSMC’s pure-play foundry model
TSMC describes itself as a pure-play foundry. It manufactures products designed by customers rather than selling chips under a TSMC product brand. The strategic purpose is neutrality: a customer can use TSMC without treating its manufacturing supplier as a competing chip designer. TSMC says the model covers advanced and specialty processes and advanced packaging.
That structure also makes many operating statistics easier to interpret. TSMC’s annual report presents company-wide wafer shipments, wafer-revenue mix, customer count, product count, process-technology count and revenue in one reporting framework. Those figures describe TSMC as a company, and they should not be relabeled as a pure “advanced-node” total.
Samsung Foundry inside a diversified semiconductor company
Samsung Foundry is a business unit of Samsung Electronics. Samsung discusses it together with System LSI and other semiconductor activities, while the wider company also makes memory products. Samsung presents integrated foundry solutions that combine logic, memory and advanced packaging.
This breadth can matter to a chip company seeking coordinated access to several semiconductor capabilities. It also complicates a simple size ranking: the Samsung figures in the cited FY2025 release describe foundry milestones and goals, but do not isolate the Foundry unit’s revenue, wafer shipments or capacity in the same way TSMC does.
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What each company says is in production
TSMC: N2 in high-volume manufacturing
TSMC’s 2025 Annual Report says its N2 process entered high-volume manufacturing in the fourth quarter of 2025, with a fast ramp expected during 2026. The same report schedules N2P and A16 volume production for the second half of 2026 and A14 for 2028.
TSMC describes A16’s Super Power Rail as suited to some high-performance-computing products with complex signal routes and dense power-delivery networks. That is a company description of intended technology use, not an independent demonstration of comparative performance or yield.
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Samsung: first-generation 2nm products and 4nm HBM base dies
Samsung’s FY2025 results say its Foundry Business commenced mass production of first-generation 2nm products in the fourth quarter of 2025. The announcement also says Samsung began shipping 4nm HBM base-die products.
Samsung’s logic-node information labels SF2 mass production as started in 2025, SF3 in 2022, SF4 in 2021 and SF5 in 2021. Samsung describes SF2 as its second-generation MBCFET gate-all-around technology for mobile, high-performance-computing, artificial-intelligence and automotive applications.
Samsung identifies SF2Z for HPC and AI and SF2A for automotive use. Those entries describe roadmap applications. They are not evidence that either variant had reached completed production in the cited material.
Production status versus a roadmap
| Process or product family | Company-reported status | What the statement does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| TSMC N2 | High-volume manufacturing began in Q4 2025; fast ramp expected in 2026. | It does not disclose an independently verified yield, customer volume or head-to-head result against Samsung SF2. |
| TSMC N2P | Volume production scheduled for the second half of 2026. | A scheduled date is not proof of production having begun. |
| TSMC A16 | Volume production scheduled for the second half of 2026; Super Power Rail positioned for some HPC designs. | It does not provide a neutral benchmark against another company’s node. |
| TSMC A14 | Volume production planned for 2028. | It is a future plan, not current production. |
| Samsung first-generation 2nm/SF2 | Mass production began in Q4 2025; SF2 page lists mass production as started in 2025. | The announcement does not supply matched yield, density, power, performance or volume data. |
| Samsung SF2Z and SF2A | Roadmap uses identified for HPC/AI and automotive, respectively. | Roadmap use does not establish completed production. |
Why “2nm” does not settle which process is better
Node names are labels chosen within each company’s process family. A smaller number is not a universal physical measurement, and the cited sources do not present a controlled comparison of equivalent transistor density, power, performance, yield, defect rate, wafer price or production volume.
For a real design decision, the relevant evidence would include the exact process variant, design rules, available libraries, memory options, packaging, qualification requirements, expected yield at the customer’s die size and the capacity that can be reserved for the product. None of those dimensions can be inferred simply by placing TSMC N2 beside Samsung SF2.
Company claims about intended applications should be attributed to the company making them. TSMC’s Super Power Rail description and Samsung’s MBCFET and application descriptions are useful indicators of positioning, but they are not neutral laboratory results.
Scale: what TSMC reports and what Samsung does not isolate
TSMC’s 2025 operating figures
| Metric | Reported 2025 figure | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Consolidated revenue | US$122.42 billion | TSMC company-wide result for 2025. |
| Net income | US$55.21 billion | TSMC company-wide result for 2025. |
| Revenue growth | 35.9% | Growth in U.S.-dollar terms versus 2024. |
| 12-inch-equivalent wafer shipments | 15.0 million | Up from 12.9 million in 2024; shipments are not the same measure as installed annual capacity. |
| Wafer revenue from 7nm-and-more-advanced technologies | 74% | TSMC’s 2025 wafer-revenue mix. |
| 3nm share of total wafer revenue | 24% | Reported in the third full year of 3nm volume ramp. |
| Process technologies | 305 | Annual total reported by TSMC. |
| Products manufactured | 12,682 | Annual total reported by TSMC. |
| Customers | 534 | Annual total reported by TSMC. |
| Annual manufacturing capacity | More than 17 million 12-inch-equivalent wafers | TSMC fundamentals figure; capacity is not an annual shipment forecast. |
Why there is no like-for-like financial ranking
TSMC’s US$122.42 billion revenue and 15.0 million wafer shipments cannot be placed in a two-column league table with a guessed Samsung Foundry number. TSMC’s figures are consolidated company results, whereas Samsung’s cited release does not report a standalone Foundry revenue or wafer-shipment total.
Samsung’s FY2025 communication instead highlights mass production of first-generation 2nm products, 4nm HBM base-die shipments, a goal of double-digit Foundry revenue growth in 2026 and an objective to improve profitability. Those are meaningful operating signals, but they are not a substitute for a disclosed segment-size figure.
Geographic footprint and capacity plans
TSMC’s existing sites and expansion projects
TSMC’s 2025 materials describe capacity across its Taiwan fabs and operations in Nanjing, Arizona, Japan and Washington, along with a China subsidiary. The company also has a specialty-technology fab project in Dresden, Germany, aimed at automotive and industrial applications.
The first Arizona fab entered high-volume production in the fourth quarter of 2024. TSMC expects the second Arizona fab to enter high-volume manufacturing in the second half of 2027 and says construction of a third began in 2025. A second Japan fab is under construction, with planned 3nm production there.
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These statements mix operating fabs with projects and schedules. A planned fab expands prospective geographic capacity; it should not be counted as current output until production begins.
Samsung’s integrated manufacturing proposition
The cited Samsung materials emphasize integration across logic, memory and advanced packaging rather than giving a comparable site-by-site capacity table for Foundry. For customers, the important distinction is that Samsung can present foundry as part of a larger semiconductor portfolio, while TSMC’s public positioning centers on a neutral manufacturing specialist.
Customers, partners and design ecosystems
TSMC’s disclosed customer breadth
TSMC reports 534 customers, 12,682 products and 305 process technologies for 2025. Those figures show breadth across products and process families, but they do not identify which customers use which node, how much capacity each consumes or how many products are at high volume.
Samsung’s SAFE and named collaborations
Samsung describes its SAFE foundry ecosystem and integrated logic, memory and advanced-packaging offerings. Samsung and Cadence announced a collaboration around a design platform for Samsung’s 2nm process. Samsung also announced expanded memory and foundry collaboration with Broadcom.
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Best Value
Which foundry is the better fit for a chip project?
Choose based on the manufacturing relationship you need
- Neutral pure-play manufacturing: TSMC’s model is explicitly designed to avoid competing with customers through a TSMC-branded chip business.
- Integrated logic, memory and packaging: Samsung positions Foundry as part of a combined solution spanning those capabilities.
- Geographic redundancy: TSMC publicly details operations and projects in Taiwan, the United States, Japan, China and Europe; evaluate which site is actually qualified and producing, rather than counting announced projects.
- Design enablement: Compare the specific process design kit, intellectual-property libraries, electronic-design-automation support, packaging options and qualification schedule for your product. A node name alone cannot answer those questions.
- Capacity assurance: Ask for the capacity reservation, wafer-start schedule and ramp assumptions for the exact process and fab. Company-wide capacity totals do not guarantee immediate availability for a new design.
Questions procurement and engineering teams should ask
- Is the quoted process in volume production, in a ramp, or still on a roadmap?
- Which exact variant is being offered—such as TSMC N2 versus a later N2P option, or Samsung SF2 versus a planned SF2Z or SF2A variant?
- What independent or customer-specific evidence is available for yield, performance, power, density and defect rates at the intended die size?
- Which fab will manufacture the wafer, and what is the qualification status of that site?
- Which packaging and test flows are available, including advanced packaging and high-bandwidth-memory base-die requirements?
- What capacity, lead time and allocation terms apply during the product’s ramp?
What each company expects in 2026
TSMC’s outlook
TSMC says AI-related demand should remain robust as 2026 begins, while acknowledging macroeconomic uncertainty. Management expects its leading-edge, specialty and advanced-packaging technologies to support growth faster than the semiconductor industry overall. This is management guidance and positioning, not a guaranteed result.
Samsung’s outlook
Samsung’s FY2025 results set a 2026 Foundry target of double-digit revenue growth and improved profitability, driven by advanced nodes. Samsung also said it planned to ramp second-generation 2nm products and strengthen integrated solutions across logic, memory and advanced packaging. These are corporate targets and plans rather than independently verified forecasts.
How to read future announcements without overclaiming
- “Development complete” indicates a technical milestone, not customer volume production.
- “Mass production” or “high-volume manufacturing” is stronger evidence of production, but still does not disclose yield, customer volume or profitability by itself.
- “Shipment” confirms that a product or component was delivered; it does not reveal the scale of shipments unless a quantity is supplied.
- “Planned,” “scheduled” or “targeted” describes an intended date or outcome, not a completed result.
- Company-wide revenue and capacity should not be presented as a single process node’s revenue or as the same business perimeter used by a competing company.
Verdict
On the evidence available for 2025 and the 2026 plans, TSMC is the clearer choice for readers who need a large, publicly quantified pure-play foundry with extensive customer and process disclosures. Samsung Foundry is the more integrated proposition, linking logic manufacturing with memory and advanced packaging inside Samsung Electronics.
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