Samsung claims that its foundry technology can surpass TSMC within five years

Recently, Samsung Semiconductor held a lecture at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), during which Kye Hyun Kyung, head of the Samsung Electronics Device Solutions division, outlined the company’s vision for catching up with its rival, TSMC.

According to Sammobile, Kye Hyun Kyung first acknowledged Samsung’s lag behind TSMC in foundry technology, trailing by approximately two years in 4nm process technology and around one year in 3nm process technology. However, Kye Hyun Kyung contended that Samsung now possesses an advantage in adopting Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistor technology earlier, thereby narrowing the gap with TSMC. Over time, Samsung can surpass TSMC within five years.

In June of last year, Samsung announced that its Hwaseong plant in South Korea had begun producing 3nm chips, becoming the world’s only foundry to adopt next-generation GAA transistor technology and provide 3nm process manufacturing services. In contrast, TSMC still employs traditional FinFET (Fin Field-Effect Transistor) technology in its 3nm processes and will only introduce new transistor technology for the 2nm process.

Recent reports suggest that the yield rate of Samsung’s 3nm process has increased to between 60% and 70% after mass production, attracting significant attention from customers. Kye Hyun Kyung stated that the response to the 3nm GAA process has been favorable, and the competitive landscape between Samsung and TSMC is expected to shift as progress is made toward the 2nm process.

Moreover, Kye Hyun Kyung emphasized that memory semiconductors will become increasingly important in the development of artificial intelligence servers, potentially surpassing NVIDIA’s GPUs. Samsung aims to “ensure the advent of a memory semiconductor-centric supercomputer by 2028.”