Automotive Semiconductors Enter the 2-Nanometer Era... Samsung Foundry's Ambitious Plan

Samsung Electronics Foundry Targets Battlefield Market
Capturing Customer Demand with 2nm Technology

Automotive Semiconductor Market to Rapidly Grow by 2026
"Will Mass-Produce Customer-Requested Products Through Optimal Processes"

Samsung Electronics, preparing for the 2-nanometer (nm; 1 nm is one billionth of a meter) era in the foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) sector, is focusing on the automotive market. The company aims to secure next-generation revenue streams by responding to the ultra-fine process demands arising from increased demand for automotive semiconductors and advancements in technology levels.

On the 19th (local time), Samsung Electronics held the 'Samsung Foundry Forum 2023' in Munich, Germany. This forum is an annual event hosted by Samsung Electronics to share the current status and vision of its foundry business. It is characterized by being held at global customer hubs with time differences.

eMRAM image / [Image source=Samsung Semiconductor Newsroom]

This year, following events in the United States (June), Korea (July), and Japan (October), the forum was held in Europe, the automotive industry hub. Germany, where the world's largest motor show 'IAA Mobility 2023' was held last month, is also a key market in Europe. Samsung Electronics showed interest in the automotive semiconductor business by attending IAA for the first time this year and then hosting the event directly.

At this forum, the company announced plans to complete preparations for mass production of 2 nm automotive solutions by 2026. It also revealed plans to mass-produce the next-generation automotive memory semiconductor, embedded Magnetic Random Access Memory (eMRAM), using a 5 nm process in 2027. This is the industry's first disclosure of a 5 nm process roadmap for this product.

The scene at the 'Samsung Foundry Forum 2023' held in Munich, Germany on the 19th (local time) / Photo by Samsung Semiconductor Newsroom

Existing automotive semiconductors belonged to the analog product category. They were produced using legacy (old) processes for simple vehicle operation control. However, as the technological requirements for automobiles have increased recently, automotive semiconductors also demand finer processes.

As internal combustion engine vehicles transition to autonomous and electric vehicles, the number of semiconductors per car is rapidly increasing. While internal combustion engine vehicles contain 600 to 700 semiconductor chips, electric vehicles have 1,600, and autonomous vehicles exceed 3,000. This makes it a market that the semiconductor industry cannot ignore.

Market research firm Omdia reported that the automotive semiconductor market size exceeded $63.5 billion last year due to increased demand. It also forecasted that the market size will grow to $96.2 billion by 2026, expecting about a 51% increase within four years.

Samsung Electronics Foundry has been focusing on the automotive semiconductor business since it first mass-produced automotive solutions in 2018. Leveraging its expertise in mobile application processor (AP) production, it is expanding its customer portfolio from the vehicle infotainment (IVI) sector to advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS).

Going forward, Samsung plans to lead the automotive foundry market by leveraging its ultra-fine process competitiveness. The company has expanded automotive processes from 14 nm to 8 nm, 5 nm, and 4 nm. It will also develop the 2 nm process and make the automotive sector a future growth engine.

Choi Si-young, President of Samsung Electronics Foundry Business Division, said, "We plan to develop optimal processes for automotive semiconductors in a timely manner and mass-produce products tailored to customer demands. With Samsung Electronics' differentiated foundry solutions, we will lead the era of electric and autonomous vehicles."

Since 2019, Samsung Electronics has been collaborating with Tesla in the autonomous vehicle semiconductor field. In February, it secured Ambarella, a U.S. company that offers system-on-chip (SoC) solutions for autonomous vehicles, as a customer. The company has announced plans to increase the non-mobile revenue share in its foundry business to over 50% by 2027.

eMRAM

eMRAM is a memory semiconductor that operates stably at high temperatures based on fast read and write speeds. It is considered a next-generation product for automotive use. Samsung Electronics was the first in the industry to mass-produce a product equipped with 28 nm eMRAM in 2019. Currently, it is developing related technologies to add 14 nm eMRAM in 2024 and 8 nm eMRAM in 2026 to its portfolio.

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