At the Meeting on semiconductor industry issues chaired by Presidential Chief of Staff for Policy Kim Yong-beom and attended by major Korean semiconductor and equipment corporations including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, Samsung Electronics DS division Chief Technology Officer (CTO) President Song Jae-hyeok was said to have expressed confidence in reviving Samsung Electronics' foundry (contract chip manufacturing) business. He hinted at an ambition to seize Global foundry market leadership, currently led by TSMC, with the next-generation 2-nanometer (nm) process.
After posting multi-trillion-won losses each quarter for several years and being treated as a millstone, Samsung Electronics' foundry division this year won orders in succession from major clients including Tesla and Apple, as well as Nintendo and IBM, and is reported to be delivering better-than-expected results in 2-nanometer chip Production yield. Analysts say Song's remarks at the meeting chaired by the presidential office signal that Samsung's foundry business is Signaling a rebound after prolonged slump.
According to the industry on the 21st, Presidential Chief of Staff for Policy Kim Yong-beom recently held a meeting with Samsung Electronics President Song Jae-hyeok, SK hynix Corporate President Song Hyun-jong, executives from major domestic semiconductor and equipment corporations, and academic experts. It was a session to examine the Current state of the domestic and global semiconductor industries and check each corporation's difficulties and key issues. In particular, it was said to have mainly addressed Korea's response to Taiwanese semiconductor corporations, including TSMC, which are Dominating the global foundry market.
Song was said to have emphasized that as the AI investment boom drives semiconductor demand into a boom cycle, the 2-nanometer process in particular will be a critical turning point. The industry outlook is that 2-nanometer technology will be a crucial high ground for securing leadership in the AI semiconductor market over the mid to long term in all aspects, not only chip performance but also Power efficiency and heat dissipation control. Song was said to have expressed confidence while explaining Samsung's foundry business status and its overall roadmap.
After repeated clear defeats to TSMC in the 3-nanometer race from last year through this year, Samsung Electronics is boosting revenue through 2-nanometer process orders while also securing major clients in mature nodes (5, 7, 8 nanometers) to be Diversifying its revenue portfolio. Samsung Electronics plans to apply the 2-nanometer process to the next-generation mobile application processor (AP) "Exynos 2600" within the year and also mass-produce chips such as the AI accelerator chip for Japanese AI corporations PFN, which it previously won on a 2-nanometer process.
A source familiar with Samsung said, "With full-scale 2-nanometer mass production not far off, such remarks at a meeting with the presidential office are interpreted to mean that Samsung's planned 2-nanometer process yield and chip performance are steadily meeting their targets." Samsung Electronics aims to raise 2-nanometer process Production yield to around 70% by the end of this year or early next year to attract major clients.
Although it is still before full-scale mass production, evaluations from major clients in the testing phase are generally favorable. After winning the order for Tesla's next-generation AI chip "AI6," collaborations with various clients including AMD have been underway, and discussions on contract manufacturing with various AI fabless companies are also reportedly in progress. Recently, Tenstorrent, an AI semiconductor corporation led by Renowned chip architect Jim Keller, was also said to be weighing Samsung Electronics and TSMC for next-generation chip production.
The industry views the 2-nanometer order battle, which will ramp up from the end of the year, as a Critical opportunity for Samsung Electronics to catch up with TSMC. Above all, mass production of the mobile AP "Exynos 2600," to be installed in the Samsung Electronics Galaxy series smartphones, is expected to be an important litmus test. Exynos 2600 is a chip that has significantly boosted its neural processing unit (NPU) performance to increase AI processing speed, and internal metrics show it achieved far superior figures compared with competitors. However, it remains to be seen whether chips mass-produced in reality will achieve that performance.
Meanwhile, the meeting also addressed key contentious issues for catching up with Taiwan's semiconductor industry. SK hynix President Song Hyun-jong, who attended the meeting, noted difficulties regarding technology and talent and mentioned the need for government-level support, and was said to have called for measures including tax benefits and government funding support.