Samsung's advanced foundry increased prices by up to 15%, and AI demand boosts production capacity
Comparative news, according to a report by Reuters quoting people familiar with the matter, Samsung Electronics has raised the price of new orders for some advanced foundry services by up to 15%, and production capacity is tight due to a surge in demand for AI chips. The company has long lagged behind TSMC in the field of foundry. Demand from Chinese customers is particularly strong, but Samsung needs to prioritize service to US customers and reserve part of its production capacity to support its own chip production, and is unable to accept all orders. Affected by US restrictions on exports of advanced chip equipment to China, Chinese companies are more dependent on overseas foundries, and some Chinese customers have accepted the biggest price increase.
According to people familiar with the matter, Samsung raised the price of the 4 nm (SF4) process in July. Chinese and US customers increased 10% to 15%, Taiwanese customers increased the price of 5% to 10%; the price of 5 nm (SF5) wafers increased by 10% to 15%, and the older 8-nm process increased by nearly 10%. The SF4 production line at the Pyeongtaek plant has been operating at full capacity since the end of last year, not only producing logic chips for customers such as Qualcomm, but also providing basic raw films for Samsung's own HBM. The analysis points out that after TSMC's advanced production capacity was fully booked, customers switched to Samsung and Intel, giving Samsung room to raise prices.
Samsung's foundry business has continued to lose money since 2022, but the company expects to reverse losses relatively quickly, driven by increased utilization rates, improved yield, and stronger prices. In the second half of the year, industrial revenue is expected to increase by double digits over the same period last year, advanced processes will account for more than half, and AI and high-performance computing applications will account for more than 30%. Tesla, Apple, Broadcom, Nvidia, etc. have reached relevant cooperation with Samsung, and Google is also discussing the use of the SF4 process.
