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Text: Fei Xiangshuo
Editor|Fei Xiangshuo
As an important member of the global chip industry, Samsung is facing fierce industry competition and technological innovation. Whether it is in memory chips or wafer manufacturing, TSMC, Micron, etc. have put tremendous pressure on Samsung. In the face of challenges, Samsung has chosen to reach a strategic cooperation with industry leader ASML, but there is still a long way to go.
Samsung's two-front battle of storage and manufacturing is difficult
As the world's largest manufacturer of memory chips, Samsung has always occupied a stable market position. But in recent years, Samsung's technological advantage in memory chip manufacturing is being caught up by competitors. Micron and SK hynix have announced plans for 10nm-level DDR5 memory chips, among which Micron will also introduce EUV technology. This puts a lot of pressure on Samsung.
At the same time, Samsung's chip manufacturing business is also facing a difficult situation. Although on the 3nm process, Samsung achieved mass production ahead of TSMC. However, due to the low yield, Samsung did not grab orders from large customers as expected. In contrast, TSMC's 3nm process-based chips have begun to appear in Apple's new products. The gap between Samsung and the industry leader still exists.
The dilemma on two fronts has put Samsung under pressure. In order to remain competitive, Samsung needs to improve the yield of the 3nm process as soon as possible; At the same time, it is also necessary to accelerate the research and development of new processes to cope with the increasingly fierce competition in the field of memory chips.
ASML has invested 5.4 billion yuan in South Korea, and Samsung EUV has made a comeback
In the face of double pressure, Samsung chose to cooperate with industry leader ASML for in-depth cooperation. Recently, the two companies announced a joint investment of 5.45 billion yuan to establish a joint R&D center in South Korea. This move is regarded by the industry as a resurgence of Samsung's "rush to buy" ASML's advanced EUV lithography machine.
In fact, EUV lithography machines play an important role in manufacturing cutting-edge chips. But Samsung has struggled to get enough EUV equipment from ASML, and most of the orders have been snatched up by TSMC and Intel.
This strategic partnership is expected to turn this situation around. Samsung is rumored to have reached an agreement with ASML to purchase up to 50 EUV devices over the next five years.
Some analysts believe that the real purpose of Samsung's move is actually to speed up the process of catching up with TSMC in the field of wafer manufacturing. As a result, the focus of the collaboration with ASML is likely to be on joint research and development of the next generation of High-NA processes based on EUV technology.
Micron was shocked to see that IBM and other "bigwigs" 10nm chip plans accelerated
Just after the news of the cooperation between Samsung and ASML, there was a new trend in the field of memory chips. Micron recently announced that it will reach a strategic cooperation with industry "bigwigs" such as IBM, Applied Materials, and Tokyo Electron, and jointly invest $1 billion in the research and development of next-generation memory chip technology.
The move was seen as Micron's accelerated development in response to Samsung's move. Micron's goal is to achieve mass production of EUV technology in DDR5 chips in 2024, which coincides with Samsung's strategic roadmap.
Some analysts believe that although direct competition with Samsung is not Micron's top priority, if it wants to maintain its market position, it is still necessary to increase investment in new technology research and development. Micron has found strong partners such as IBM, perhaps because of this consideration.
In the future, the competition between memory chip manufacturers based on new processes may intensify. In the end, it will be consumers and the industry as a whole that will benefit.
Samsung's 3nm yield improvement is still difficult to catch up with TSMC
Despite the important cooperation with ASML, experts believe that Samsung still has a long way to go if it wants to catch up with TSMC in wafer manufacturing.
Recently, there have been reports of increased yield and yield in Samsung's 3nm process. But compared with TSMC, the gap is still significant. After all, TSMC has more experience in mass production and customer resources.
In fact, TSMC's 5nm process ready further extends its lead with Samsung. Not to mention, TSMC's 2nm process after 3nm has also been put into trial production one after another. If Samsung wants to really catch up, the speed of process iteration must be further accelerated.
Of course, Samsung's potential cannot be easily denied. It remains to be seen whether Samsung's partnership with ASML will lead to further breakthroughs in wafer manufacturing in the coming years.
Analysis says Samsung's real target is TSMC?
To sum up, in the face of double pressure, Samsung's goal seems to be clear - that is, to catch up with or even surpass TSMC in the field of wafer manufacturing, so as to regain the second position of the world's chip manufacturers.
Recently, some foreign media directly pointed out that the real goal of Samsung's cooperation with ASML is TSMC. After all, the latter is the real competitor that poses a threat to Samsung.
Samsung still has a long way to go if it wants to reverse the current five-to-one market share gap between the two companies. But partnering with industry leaders to develop cutting-edge technologies may be one of the most effective ways to bridge the gap.
Of course, TSMC will never sit still. In the future, there will be a fierce chase in the global chip manufacturing field. And this will ultimately promote the progress and innovation of the entire industry, which is expected.
Finally, I have briefly summarized the content of the full text and left the questions that sparked the reader's discussion:
To sum up, Samsung's current dual dilemma forces it to carry out in-depth cooperation with the strongest players in the industry. But whether it is in the field of memory chips or manufacturing, Samsung has a long way to go to achieve leadership. The effectiveness of its cooperation with ASML and other players remains to be seen.
So, what do you think are the opportunities and threats worth paying attention to in the current industry environment, and how will its next strategic deployment evolve? Welcome to leave a message to discuss!