Samsung the first semiconductor manufacturer to start 10-nanometre FinFET chip production

Generational shift promises 40 per cent lower power consumption and a 27 per cent hike in performance

Samsung claims that it will be the first semiconductor company to start mass production of microprocessors based on 10-nanometre FinFET technology.

The company claims that systems-on-a-chip (SoC) produced to 10nm will offer 40 per cent lower power consumption and a 27 per cent boost in performance compared with the current leading edge 14nm process.

Samsung's shift comes a year after Intel admitted that the complexity of modern semiconductor manufacturing had delayed its own move to 10nm process manufacturing.

The company said that it used "cutting edge techniques such as triple patterning to allow bi-directional routing" and overcome problems with scaling.

Jong Shik Yoon, executive vice president and head of foundry business at Samsung, said: "The industry's first mass production of 10nm FinFET technology demonstrates our leadership in advanced process technology.

"We will continue our efforts to innovate scaling technologies and provide differentiated total solutions to our customers."

Samsung's announcement relates to the first generation of the 10nm process (also referred to as 10LPE), which will be available in devices from the beginning of 2017.

This is likely to mean that Samsung's 10nm chips will make their debut inside the Galaxy S8, tipped to launch in February 2017.

Previous rumours have pointed to the next-gen Samsung handset (which probably won't catch fire) being offered with Snapdragon 830 and Exynos 8895 chips as Samsung is building both on its 10nm process.

Making the most of this extra power, the Galaxy S8 is also tipped to feature a 4K-resolution curved display, fingerprint and iris scanners, and a dual camera set-up on the rear similar to that seen on the Huawei P9 and iPhone 7 Plus.

Samsung rounded off the announcement by saying that the firm plans to start mass production of its second-generation 10nm chips (10LPP), which it claims will offer further improvements in performance, in the second half of 2017.