Samsung Electronics Accelerates 'Ultra-Gap' Lead in Foundry Business

NVIDIA, IBM Secure Consecutive Orders
30 Trillion Won Investment in Pyeongtaek Line 2

A panoramic view of Samsung Electronics' semiconductor production outpost, the Pyeongtaek Campus in Gyeonggi.

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Samsung Electronics is making strides to achieve global No. 1 status in the foundry (contract manufacturing) sector, following its memory semiconductor supremacy. Last month, the Pyeongtaek Line 2 (P2), the world's largest semiconductor production plant, began operations, while efforts to secure global clients are being strengthened.

According to industry sources on the 6th, Samsung Electronics will produce NVIDIA's next-generation graphics processing unit (GPU) 'GeForce RTX 30' using its 8nm foundry process. The industry views this order as a milestone for Samsung to expand its business scope, considering that NVIDIA had previously entrusted its orders to TSMC, the No. 1 foundry company.

Earlier, Samsung Electronics signed production contracts for IBM's next-generation server central processing unit (CPU) 'Power10' last month and Qualcomm's next-generation 5G modem chip 'X60' in February.

Through securing orders from consecutive global companies, Samsung Electronics' foundry sales this year are estimated to exceed 15 trillion won. Over the past three years, the foundry business remained at around 11 trillion won.

Starting with the industry's first mass production of advanced 3rd generation 10nm-class (1z) low-power (LP) mobile memory semiconductors (DRAM) applying EUV (extreme ultraviolet) process at Pyeongtaek Line 2, it is expected to become an advanced complex production line producing next-generation V-NAND and ultra-fine foundry products. Following Pyeongtaek Line 1, more than 30 trillion won in large-scale investment will be made in Pyeongtaek Line 2.

The EUV-based 16Gb mobile DRAM mass-produced at the P2 production line boasts the largest capacity and highest speed ever. It is 16% faster than existing mobile DRAM for smartphones. For the 16GB product, it can process ten Full HD movies (5GB each) in just one second.

The industry expects that with the start of mass production at the P2 line, the groundbreaking of Pyeongtaek semiconductor production line P3, based on ultra-fine processes below 5nm (nanometer; 1nm is one-billionth of a meter), will accelerate. The P3 mass production is expected in the first half of 2023.

Market research firm TrendForce estimates the foundry market share in the third quarter as TSMC 53.9% and Samsung Electronics 17.4%. Samsung aims to narrow the gap by securing orders from fabless semiconductor design companies such as AMD and Intel in the future.

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