Samsung expands production, showing advanced EUV process above 5nm

Beijing time on May 21, Samsung Electronics said on Thursday that the company's sixth domestic chip foundry production line has started construction and will produce logic chips. Samsung's move is aimed at reducing its dependence on the unstable memory chip field.

Samsung is currently challenging stronger rival TSMC in the field of chip foundry, competing for orders from customers such as Qualcomm. The production line, located in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, will use extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) technology to produce advanced 5-nanometer chips. Construction started earlier this month and production is scheduled to begin in the second half of next year.

It is reported that the new production line has started construction at the beginning of this month and is expected to be fully put into production in the second half of 2021. Samsung aims to expand the latest process technology applications in numerous current and next-generation applications including 5G, high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI).

Dr. ES Jung, President and Head of Foundry Business, Samsung Electronics, said, "The new production line will expand Samsung's manufacturing capabilities below 5nm and enable us to quickly meet the growing demands of our customers for EUV-based solutions. In addition, we remain committed to Meeting customer needs through aggressive investment and talent acquisition. This will allow us to continue to break new ground while driving strong growth in Samsung's foundry business."

After the first mass production of EUV-based 7nm process technology in early 2019, Samsung recently added a new EUV-dedicated production line in Hwaseong, South Korea, to expand its foundry network. With the new Pyeongtaek factory fully operational in 2021, Samsung's foundry capacity based on EUV technology is expected to increase significantly.

Samsung plans to begin mass production of the 5nm EUV process at its Hwaseong plant in the second half of this year.

As of now, together with the Pyeongtaek factory, Samsung has a total of 7 foundry production lines in South Korea and the United States, including 6 12-inch production lines and 1 8-inch production line.