Samsung Electronics to Contract Manufacture IBM Next-Generation Server CPU Using 7nm Process

IBM 'POWER 10' to Launch in the Second Half of Next Year

IBM's 'POWER 10' with Samsung Electronics' EUV-based 7nm process

Photo by IBM Newsroom

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Samsung Electronics will manufacture next-generation server central processing units (CPUs) for IBM in the United States on a contract basis.

On the 17th, according to IBM Newsroom and foreign media, IBM unveiled the next-generation server CPU 'POWER 10' and announced that it will be produced using Samsung Electronics' cutting-edge extreme ultraviolet (EUV)-based 7-nanometer process.

Samsung Electronics and IBM have maintained research cooperation for over 10 years, including announcing the industry's first joint implementation of a 7-nanometer test chip in 2015. In 2018, IBM also announced cooperation with Samsung Electronics to produce server semiconductor chips using the 7-nanometer foundry process.

POWER 10 is a product applying IBM's design technology and Samsung Electronics' EUV-based 7-nanometer process, offering up to three times the performance at the same power compared to the previous product, POWER 9. IBM plans to launch servers equipped with the POWER 10 CPU in the second half of 2021.

Samsung Electronics has achieved results in EUV-based ultra-fine process technology and is expanding the application range of process technology to various fields such as mobile, AI, HPC (High Performance Computing), and automotive electronics. Following the industry's first shipment of 7-nanometer products using EUV process in April last year, Samsung Electronics began mass production of the 5-nanometer process in the second quarter of this year.

Currently, it is recognized as leading ultra-fine process technology by initiating the development of second-generation 5-nanometer and 4-nanometer technologies with improved performance and power efficiency. This month, it also succeeded in producing a test chip applying the industry's first '3D stacked package technology (eXtended-Cube, X-Cube)' to 7-nanometer-based system semiconductors.

Samsung Electronics is also accelerating efforts to strengthen competitiveness by deciding to invest in foundry production facilities at the Pyeongtaek Campus to respond to the increasing demand for EUV-based cutting-edge products.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.