Samsung Electronics Co has begun building a cutting-edge chip production line intended to help it take on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the business of making chips for external clients.
South Korea’s largest company said it has started construction on a 5-nanometer (nm) fabrication facility in Pyeongtaek dedicated to its made-to-order foundry business, an arena TSMC dominates.
Based on the extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) process, Samsung expects the fab’s output to go toward applications from 5G networking to high-performance computing from the second half of next year, it said in a statement yesterday.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Samsung, the world’s largest maker of computer memory, smartphones and displays last year, outlined its aim of spending US$116 billion to compete with TSMC and Intel Corp in contract chipmaking, supplying customers such as Qualcomm Inc or Nvidia Corp.
Its announcement coincided with the announcement of restrictions on the sale of semiconductors made with US equipment to China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為), a constraint that threatens more than one-10th of TSMC’s business.
“This will enable us to break new ground while driving robust growth for Samsung’s foundry business,” ES Jung, head of the contract chipmaking division, said in a statement.
Samsung first unveiled its expansion blueprint in April last year, outlining at the time its goal of hiring thousands and ramping up investment in logic chips in the years leading up to 2030.
That initiative arose as sales of smartphones and consumer electronics plateaued and competition from Chinese rivals depressed margins.
EUV is the latest and most advanced chipmaking method, requiring machines costing tens of millions of US dollars, and delivering better precision and performance in the chips it produces.
TSMC and Samsung, through its spending plan, are the leaders in developing that process and expanding into 5nm and smaller manufacturing nodes.
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, Samsung had begun collaborating with major clients on designing and manufacturing custom chips and that work was already starting to add to its revenue, a Samsung executive has said.
Its newest fab in Pyeongtaek joins another 5-nanometer facility in Hwaseong that is to begin production in the second half of this year.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
RSS