Samsung Electronics announced on Thursday that it would construct a second EUV foundry production line in South Korea, aiming to become the leading system-on-chip business worldwide by 2030.
The South Korean tech giant said that it would break ground in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi province, within this month with a plan to begin operation in the second half of 2021. The company said that the new production line would use extreme ultraviolet (EUV) semiconductor foundry technology to produce 5-nanometer chips that are more energy-efficient and smaller.
Samsung said that its intentions to become the No.1 in the foundry business by 2030 is part of its 133 trillion won ($108 billion) investment plan in the non-memory sector.
The company finished its first EUV production line, named “V1”, last February in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. The line has since produced chipsets used for smartphones, artificial intelligence (AI), and high-performance computing for customers such as Qualcomm and Intel.
According to the firm, the move to add a new foundry production line is in line with President Moon Jae-in’s economic vision for the country’s system-on-chip industry.
In a speech last May, the South Korean president said that the government would foster three new industries in bio-health, system semiconductors, and future cars to develop future growth engines.
To be No.1 in Foundry Business
Samsung’s foundry business president, Junng Eun-seung, said that the company would expand the volume of manufactured chips on a 5-nm process to cope with the rapidly growing demand for EUV-based chips.
Currently, Samsung has five foundry facilities in South Korea and one located in Austin, Texas, making the Pyeongtaek facility the seventh foundry line.
In an effort to compete better with global foundry leader TSMC, Samsung has aggressively increased investments in the contract-based chip manufacturing line. According to Samsung, it aims to boost production of its EUV-based 5-nm process products by three times, with the V1 line starting mass production in the second half of this year.
According to market tracker Trendforce, Taiwan-based TSMC leads the foundry business with a 54.1 percent market share in this year’s first quarter. Meanwhile, Samsung remains in second with a market share of 15.9 percent.
