Samsung Says it Will Beat TSMC to 4nm Production in the U.S.

Samsung's massive investments in its foundry business seem to be finally paying off. The company's contract chipmaking unit is gaining market share and increasing revenue, according to data from TrendForce. Furthermore, the company is on track to start mass production of chips on its 4 nanometer-class process technology in the U.S. by the end of 2024, ahead of TSMC's Fab 21 in Arizona. 

Samsung Foundry is optimistic about its position in the semiconductor market and is gearing up to challenge TSMC more aggressively than before, said Samsung co-CEO Kyung Kye-hyun at a special lecture at Seoul National University, according to the Korea Herald. The company's upcoming fab near Taylor, Texas, will be its first leading-edge production facility in the U.S. in years, and Samsung pins a lot of hopes on it. The fab will enable Samsung to address numerous clients in the U.S. and challenge both Intel Foundry Services and TSMC. 

If everything goes as planned, Samsung's new fab -- capable of producing chips on the company's 4nm-class process technologies (SF4E, SF4, SF4P, SF4X, and SF4A) -- will start high volume production by the end of 2024. While this will hardly have an immediate effect on the foundry market, Samsung will be able to say that it has beaten TSMC with the U.S. 4-nm push.

Samsung Foundry will still be behind Intel Foundry Services, which is set to begin making of chips on its 20A (2nm-class) node in 2024 and 18A (1.8nm-class) node in 2024 – 2025, but Samsung will still be ahead of its largest rival.

Samsung Foundry's share of the contract chipmaking market surged to 11.7% in Q2 2023, up from 9.9% in Q1, while revenue reached $3.234 billion, up from $2.757 billion in Q1. While TSMC maintained its dominant position, its market share declined to 56.4% on $15.656 billion revenue, according to data from TrendForce.