Dimensity 9400 Rumored to Be More Expensive Due to Second-Generation 3nm Process

TSMC will use 3nm second-generation process to produce the MediaTek Dimensity 9400, which could see some upgrades but also a higher price. A cost increase has been mentioned by a tipster but there are also the improvements that MediaTek partners will get as they put Dimensity 9400 in their high-end offerings.

More About the Dimensity 9400

Weibo tipster Digital Chat Station claims that the price hike might not be too high, though upcoming flagship models like Vivo X200 are likely to cost more than predecessors. The Dimensity 9400 is expected to offer some significant advantages, such as improved power efficiency and AI performance you would expect. According to the new chipset, its Neural Processing Unit (NPU) is 40 percent faster than Dimensity 9300.

We do find it the tipster a little odd that gave no comments about how well Dimensity 9400 performs, but this might mean that there are not many changes in performance compared to its predecessor. That being said, the reduction in efficiency cores on a rumored Dimensity 9400 should also yield single-core improvements above just reduced-power consumption levels. It’s expected to make use of ARM’s ‘BlackHawk’ CPU architecture, though we have yet to see the real-world benefits.

Rumors also claim that the Dimensity 9400 will be a much bigger die with size estimates coming in at a speculative 150mm² and around 30 billion transistors based on previous information. This will result in a bigger cache and an upgraded NPU, which could indeed give it the largest smartphone silicon physically. Part of that might be the reason why it costs more to produce.

Nevertheless, MediaTek’s CEO Rick Tsai foresees strongly and has high hopes for the Dimensity 9400 that could lead to even a “50% revenue growth on an annual basis” in favor of his company. An official announcement for the chipset will likely come in October, and MediaTek is hoping to offer an aggressive price that can take on Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 — a chip many expect could command even higher prices than its predecessor. Microsoft suggests it could encourage smartphone manufacturers to get into bed with MediaTek for the long term on such a pricing strategy.

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