United States: By 2027, Samsung Electronics Co. hopes to produce transistors just 1.4 nanometers wide, as part of an aggressive five-year plan to woo US chip buyers with more cutting-edge technology.
The company's chip contract-manufacturing unit, known as One Foundry, is looking to triple its revenue from 2021 levels that year, senior vice president Moonsu Kang said at a briefing in San Jose, Calif.
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The company will need to advance its technological capabilities and penetrate further into the US market for outsourced chips to get there.
In Seoul on Tuesday, Samsung shares rose 4.1% after falling by nearly a third this year, driven by rising costs and a slump in the memory market.
The company headquartered in Suwon is the world's largest revenue chip maker, but its foundry division is lagging behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which has a commanding lead in the market and top production capacity. Recently Nvidia Corp. Orders to produce the RTX 40 series of graphics cards, which were transferred to the 4-nanometer process, were lost by Samsung to TSMC.
At the briefing, Samsung executives claimed that their company's yield—the ratio of functional chips in each production—is currently the best in the region. Additionally, it is competing to stay current with technology.
By starting to mass-produce second generation 3nm chips in 2024 and then 2nm components in 2025, the company hopes to become the industry leader in the production of advanced chips. Then, two years later, 1.4nm products would be ready to launch.
Samsung's choice to manufacture in the US is one of its marketing strategies for American consumers. In addition to building a facility in the nearby city of Taylor, Samsung already has one in Austin, Texas.
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The upcoming plant, which is set to open in 2024, will likely employ cutting-edge manufacturing technologies such as 3nm technology.
By 2027, Samsung also plans to triple its capacity for state-of-the-art production. It has no plans to expand the small number of older productions currently available.
But TSMC is expanding its presence in the US as well. Additionally, Intel Corp., which has been overtaken by Samsung to become the largest chip maker in the world, is adding capacity in the US and Europe as part of an effort to balance the region's disproportionate reliance on Asian manufacturing.
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According to Kang, Samsung may expand its manufacturing operations in Texas, if necessary. The business has acquired enough space in the area to expand and meet the demand.