Samsung boosts chipmaking to secure big tech orders

Samsung Electronics is pushing advanced manufacturing in its chip-making sector to secure orders from major tech firms and recover from earnings declines.

Vice Chairman Jun Young-hyun recently met with global tech leaders, including Nvidia, to discuss high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI processors and the company’s foundry capabilities.

Samsung received production readiness approval for DRAMs made using the 1c process, a sixth-generation 10-nanometer class technology that boosts computing power and energy efficiency.

These DRAMs will be used in its upcoming HBM4 chips, expected to enter mass production later this year.

To support the move, Samsung is expanding its Plant 4 in Pyeongtaek to add production lines for the 1c process.

🔗 Source: The Korea Times

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Samsung’s cyclical strategy of process innovation to regain market leadership

Samsung’s current push for advanced 1c DRAM and 2nm foundry processes follows a historical pattern that has defined the company’s semiconductor strategy for decades.

The company first established itself as a memory leader in the 1980s through breakthrough developments of 64K DRAM (1983) and 256K DRAM (1984), which marked Samsung’s entry as a serious semiconductor competitor 1.

This strategy of using manufacturing process innovation to leapfrog competitors has been consistently employed during previous market downturns, as seen in their early adoption of 3D NAND technology and high-κ dielectrics with 45nm processes 2.

Samsung’s vertical integration model, controlling everything from design to manufacturing, has historically enabled faster implementation of new process technologies compared to competitors focused on single segments of the value chain 3.

The current focus on 1c DRAM process for HBM4 represents Samsung attempting to use its manufacturing prowess to differentiate in the AI memory market after falling behind SK Hynix, which aligns with previous competitive rebounds in the company’s 50-year semiconductor history.

2️⃣ HBM market reflects intensifying memory hierarchy for AI computing

Samsung’s push into HBM4 highlights how AI has fundamentally restructured the memory industry’s competitive dynamics and product priorities.

SK Hynix currently dominates with 46-49% market share in HBM, while Samsung has struggled to capture significant share of this high-margin segment that has become critical for AI acceleration 4.