Samsung Foundry, one of the world’s most advanced semiconductor chip manufacturers, faced yield-related issues over the past few years. To focus on resolving those problems, the company took a step back and postponed the mass production of its 1.4nm chips to 2029 so it could improve the yields of its 2nm fabrication processes.Samsung had originally planned to begin mass production of 1.4nm chips in 2027, but that timeline has now been pushed back to 2029. By pausing 1.4nm development last year and focusing on improving 2nm yields, the company secured a $16.5 billion order from Tesla to manufacture its AI6 chip, which will be used in the automaker’s cars, AI servers, and humanoid robots.Samsung Foundry restarts 1.4nm chip commercializationNow, a report from The Bell claims that Samsung Foundry has resumed the commercialization of its 1.4nm semiconductor fabrication technology after briefly pausing its development in early 2025. With its 2nm chip fabrication processes (SF2 and SF2P) now appearing to be firmly on track, the company is moving ahead with the advanced development of its 1.4nm process.Samsung Foundry has reportedly asked partners such as Applied Materials and Lam Research to begin the advanced development of custom chip manufacturing equipment. The new tools will be delivered to Samsung’s NRD-K campus, its advanced semiconductor research and development hub in Giheung. The equipment will be used across the South Korean firm’s foundry and memory chip manufacturing processes.ASML’s highly regarded High NA EUV lithography machines are already installed at the NRD-K facility and will reportedly be used for specific layers in 1.4nm chips.Intel and TSMC are ahead of Samsung Foundry in the race to make 1.4nm chipsSamsung’s rivals, Intel and TSMC, are ahead in the 1.4nm race. Intel plans to begin mass production of 1.4nm chips in 2027, while TSMC is aiming to start production in 2028. That puts Samsung one to two years behind its rivals.The South Korean firm has also reportedly started ordering equipment to develop its next-generation V12 NAND flash memory chips. Those chips could enter full-scale mass production in 2030 using a new multi-wafer stacking structure.