As the only semiconductor foundry in the world that can compete with TSMC today, Samsung has always competed with TSMC in advanced processes. However, in the past two years, there have been many negative news about Samsung OEM, and there have been rumors on the extranet before that Samsung's previous major customers such as Qualcomm and Nvidia are considering turning to TSMC.
In a recent earnings call, Samsung assured its shareholders that the company was going as planned. Samsung Electronics is working to dispel shareholders' concerns about rumors of problems with the production rate of the foundry department.
Samsung said that the 5nm process has entered a mature stage and is still expanding services, and although the 4nm process has been delayed in the yield improvement process, it has entered the predetermined yield curve, and the future 3nm process is still preparing to set up a new research and development production line.
In terms of chip production, Kang Moon-soo, senior vice president of Samsung Electronics and head of the foundry marketing and strategy team, said that the 5nm process has entered the mature stage of mass production, and the production capacity of 4nm chips will soon begin to improve, "Although the initial expansion of the 4nm process has been delayed, it is currently focusing on stability and entering the expected output improvement curve." ”
"By improving the node development system of the 3nm process, Samsung now has a validation process for each stage of development," he said, stressing that this will help shorten the ramp-up period, improve profitability, and ensure a more stable supply.
For the outside world's most worried Qualcomm, Nvidia and other major customers to abandon the news of Samsung's turn to TSMC, Samsung said that this situation is exaggerated, Samsung's major customers' FOUNDry orders far exceed the current production capacity, as the company actively promotes advanced technology, the number of future orders will further increase.
"We believe that recent market concerns have been exaggerated," Kang said: "Contrary to people's concerns about semiconductor foundry, demand from major customers remains strong" and "the backlog of orders in the next five years is 8 times that of last year's sales."
In addition, on Thursday, Samsung Electronics announced that it will start mass production using the 3GAE (early 3nm class gate all-rounder) process this quarter. This not only marks the industry's first 3nm-class manufacturing technology, but also the first node to use ring gate field effect transistors (GAAFETs).
"This is the world's first mass-produced GAA 3nm process, which will improve its technological leadership."
Samsung says the process will deliver a 30 percent performance boost, a 50 percent power reduction, and up to 80 percent transistor density, including a mix of logic and SRAM transistors.