Samsung challenges global chip shortage with plan to triple foundry production efforts
Where others see a shortage, Samsung sees opportunity.
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What you need to know
Samsung, fresh off its declaration of healthy third-quarter earnings, announced it plans to pump up foundry production capacity to triple what it is today. That plan is set to take place over the next half-decade, reaching fruition by 2026.
To achieve its goals, Samsung will expand current operations in South Korea and could also construct a new U.S.-based factory. As reported byNikkei Asia, these plans come at a time when the company is in second place in the foundry game, with a global market share of 17% that’s dwarfed by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s (TSMC) 53%.
There are far more companies in the chipmaking arena than just Samsung and TSMC, however. Intel, a company Samsung spars with onsemiconductor revenue charts, recently announced major plans to expand operations both domestically and abroad, recently making headlines for its vocalexclusion of the UKfrom its chip factory initiatives.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, chip shortages and associated supply headaches have been on many companies' minds across a bevy of sectors, ranging fromautomakers to phone manufacturers. Many governments have gotten involved as well, with efforts to combat the semiconductor crisis roping in the likes of South Korea and various EU nations, as well as heating up thechipmaking war between the U.S. and China.
Samsung’s foundry efforts, much like every other company’s, won’t materialize overnight, hence the 2026 target deadline. This is par for the course and aligns with recent news such as how Intel’s new Arizona-based chip factories onlyrecently entered the construction phaseafter having been announced for months.
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Robert Carnevale is the News Editor for Windows Central. He’s a big fan of Kinect (it lives on in his heart), Sonic the Hedgehog, and the legendary intersection of those two titans, Sonic Free Riders. He is the author ofCold War 2395. Have a useful tip? Send it to robert.carnevale@futurenet.com.
