Samsung Reportedly Raises Advanced Foundry Prices by Up to 15% Due to AI Demand
Samsung Electronics has reportedly raised its advanced foundry service prices by up to 15% for new orders, driven by surging demand for AI chips and tight capacity. Specifically, the price of the 4nm SF4 process was increased by 5% to 15% in July, while the 5nm SF5 and 8nm processes also saw price hikes. This price hike could help turn around Samsung's struggling foundry business, which has been operating at a loss since 2022. It also highlights the severe capacity constraints in the global semiconductor supply chain, as TSMC's tight capacity gives Samsung more pricing power. Samsung's SF4 production line in Pyeongtaek has been running at full capacity since late last year, manufacturing logic chips for clients like Qualcomm and base dies for Samsung's High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). Due to capacity limits, Samsung is unable to meet all orders, prioritizing US clients and its own internal chip production.
## BACKGROUND
Foundry refers to the manufacturing of chips designed by other fabless companies. High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) is a 3D-stacked memory technology critical for AI accelerators, where the "base die" acts as the control interface at the bottom of the memory stack. Samsung's SF4 and SF5 represent its advanced 4nm and 5nm FinFET process nodes designed to compete with TSMC.