The back half of 2023 is notable for the delivery of the first 3 nm products. TSMC’s FinFET version showed up in the iPhone 15 in the form of its A17 application processor, and Samsung released the first gate-all-around (GAA) nanosheet (NS) chip as a bitminer part. GAA technology is the next significant advance in transistor architecture beyond FinFETs, enabling scaling towards 2 nm and beyond. GAA transistors increase gate control of the channel, improving drive current, reducing leakage, and increasing speed. Despite Samsung claiming 3 nm production last year, no information was available as to what the products were. Samsung normally debuts a new node with an in-house chip, but it canceled the initial 3 nm Exynos 2300 due to poor yields. The only rumor that TechInsights tracked down was a bitcoin miner ASIC that revealed itself in a MicroBT bitminer part in a WhatsMiner M56S++ cryptocurrency mining rig. After canceling the Exynos, Samsung took a cautious route for its first GAA process (SF3E) by launching a small chip containing no SRAM, simplifying process integration, and reducing defect risk in a low-volume test product intended to prove out the process. The caution also applies to the cell design: the NS stacks replace FinFETs, and above them the lower and upper metallization is almost the same as in the 4 nm SF4E process. TSMC showed caution in their own way by continuing their FinFET evolution, pushing the technology down to 3 nm. Reportedly, TSMC’s 3 nm wafer price is quite high, double the 7 nm price. Apple is the only major customer willing to pay this high price; Qualcomm, Nvidia, and other large TSMC customers remain on 4 nm until next year. The company plans to introduce their GAA process at 2 nm in 2025.