Samsung Electronics will start mass production of second-generation 10-nanometer mobile application processors by the end of this year and that of the third generation next year, it said Thursday.

The world’s top memory chipmaker said it is ramping up production of the 10-nm FinFET process technology for steady high yield to meet customer needs on schedule.

“Following the 10-nm Low Power Early version, the 10-nm Low Power Performance and Low Power Ultimate will enter mass production by the end of the year and next year, respectively.” said Yoon Jong-shik, executive vice president and head of foundry business at Samsung Electronics, in a press release. “We will continue to offer the most competitive process technology in the industry.”

The 10-nm LPE is the first generation of the mobile application processor by Samsung, followed by the second-generation LPP and third-generation LPU.

Samsung has shipped more than 70,000 silicon wafers of its first-generation 10-nm LPE to date since it began the industry’s first mass production of the 10-nm LPE last October.

Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 835 and Samsung’s Exynos 9 processors are applied with 10-nm FinFET process technology, which is also expected to be equipped in the upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphones.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)