According to the latest report, IBM and STMicroelectronics, headquartered in Switzerland, chose not to wait for chips manufactured by TSMC, but to OEMs instead of waiting for chips manufactured by TSMC. The order is delivered to Samsung Electronics.
Moreover, Samsung’s chips supplied to IBM will be used to produce a new generation of servers with advanced manufacturing technology. In addition, this is the first time that STMicroelectronics has outsourced the production of microcontroller units (MCUs) required by its main customers. These 16-nanometer manufacturing process microcontrollers will be used in Apple’s next-generation iPhone.
The last microcontroller order Samsung Electronics received was an order from NXP in the Netherlands in 2017. MCU is hit hardest by supply chain bottlenecks. According to industry sources, the delivery time for some MCU orders is as long as 40 weeks.
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Considering that microcontrollers are widely used in various systems and devices, Samsung’s winning of MCU orders this time has enhanced people’s expectations for Samsung’s entry into the automotive MCU foundry field.
A relevant person from the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association stated on December 15 that “fabless companies are making various efforts to reduce supply chain risks” and “as the supply chain diversifies, Samsung will occupy a larger market share”.
Samsung’s goal is to surpass TSMC by 2030. However, according to data from the market research organization TrendForce, its share of the global foundry market was 17.1% in the third quarter, a decrease of 0.2%.
Furthermore, the current goal chip shortage has helped fabless companies achieve diversification of their supply chains, thereby shortening delivery times. According to market research company Susquehanna International Group (Susquehanna International Group), since this year, the delivery time from order to the analog chip has been significantly extended from the usual 6 to 9 weeks to 22 weeks.
Launch of an advanced foundry ecosystem
In addition to IBM and STMicroelectronics, other companies also intend to outsource chip production to Samsung. According to sources, advanced Micro Devices is also considering placing an order for Samsung’s central processing unit (CPU) foundry.
Given that Samsung’s main competitor, TSMC, provides customers with customized products, Samsung is focusing on strengthening the cooperation network with customer companies under the semiconductor ecosystem it is building.
To this end, Samsung launched the Advanced Foundry Ecosystem (SAFE), with partners including ARM, Siemens, and chip design company Synopsys. Recently, electronic design automation company Xpeedic and five other companies have joined the ecosystem.
Under this ecosystem, Samsung will not only produce chips designed by customers but also involve customers from design to post-processing.
In addition, Samsung has also cooperated with IBM to develop a new vertical transistor, which can reduce energy usage by 85% compared to scaled fin field-effect transistors (finFETs).
IBM said on December 14 that, unlike traditional transistors that lie flat on the surface of a semiconductor, the new vertical transfer field-effect transistor (VTFET) is placed perpendicular to the surface of the chip and has a vertical current.
Prior to this, Samsung also received Google’s foundry orders. Samsung has cooperated with Google since the development stage of Google’s new smartphone application processor (AP).
