Samsung Electronics Doubles Down On Securing Upper Hand in Global Foundry

President Choi Si-young, head of Samsung Electronics’ Foundry Business announces its business strategies at the Samsung Foundry Forum that took place at Silicon Valley in San Jose, Calif. on Oct. 3.

Samsung Electronics declared its intention to produce semiconductors using a 1.4 nano production process by 2027. Samsung Electronics, a late-comer in the global foundry sector, mass produced the world’s first 3-nano chips ahead of TSMC of Taiwan last June.

Samsung Electronics’ announcing the timeline of the 1.4-nano chip production may be construed as the company’s expression of its determination to secure an upper hand in the global foundry market in advance ahead of others.

Samsung Electronics revealed its business strategies at the Samsung Foundry Forum that took place at Silicon Valley in San Jose, Calif. on Oct. 3.

About 500 people from client companies and cooperative companies participated in the off-line forum, the first such event in three years.

President Choi Si-young, head of Samsung Electronics’ Foundry Business, said, “Customers’ success is Samsung Electronics foundry’s raison d’être.”

Samsung Electronics will set a new standard in the foundry industry, he added. Samsung Electronics has been raising foundry process technology capabilities fast of late.

The company became the world’s first to mass produce a 3-nano chip using the new process technology GAA architecture. The feat came three months faster than TSMC.

Samsung Electronics plans to keep up the momentum with the goal of mass producing a 2-nano chip by 2025 and a 1.4-nano chip by 2027.

TSMC inaugurated a research team on a 1.4-nano chip last June, but did not divulge its specific development plan.

The Korean semiconductor community presumed that TSMC would mass produce a 1.4-nano chip between 2027 and 2028. In that case, Samsung Electronic would be a position to be a front-runner prior to TSMC.

Samsung Electronics has improved the yield rate of the 3-nano chip, considered to be its weak point, to satisfactory levels.

The company has a strategy to surpass TSMC in the super-process sector by stabilizing its GAA technology based on the improvement of the yield rate.

Samsung Electronics’ using the GAA technology earlier than TSMC is in an advantage position.

The foundry sector needs to secure customers as important as technologies. Samsung Electronics has narrowed the technology gaps with TSMC, but the former has lagged behind the latter in terms of securing customers.

The market survey firm TrendForce reported that TSMC took a 53.4 percent share of the global foundry market in the second quarter of the year, followed by Samsung Electronics with a 16.5 percent stake.

Samsung Electronics find it not easy to secure large-sized customers due to less production capacity, business sources said.

Samsung Electronics has come up with a new strategy, dubbed “Shell First,” to fix the problem. In the past, the company had built a plant after landing orders.

President Lee Jung-bae, chief of Samsung Electronics’ Memory Business reveals its future business plans at the Samsung Foundry Forum at Silicon Valley. (Photos: Samsung Electronics)

Now, Samsung Electronics plans to make facility investments before landing orders. Under the strategy, the company plans to ramp up its foundry production capacity to three times more by 2027 compared to this year’s. It could lead to faster demand response capabilities and expanding of market share.

Samsung Electronics will have half of the mobile chip sector, accounting for two-thirds of the company’s sales, by 2027 in order to diversify its clientele.

Samsung to Develop 1,000-Layer NAND Flash Memory

Samsung Electronics plans to release the fifth-generation 10-nano DRAM next year ahead of its rivals.

The company plans to develop 1,000-layer NAND Flash memory by 2030.

Samsung Electronics also aims to rank 1st in the vehicular memory chip market by 2025.