© Reuters.
In a bid to overhaul Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Firm (TSMC) because the world’s main semiconductor chip producer by 2030, Samsung is aggressively investing in superior chipmaking tools. The South Korean tech big’s technique hinges on buying excessive ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines from ASML (AS:), a premier Dutch agency specializing on this crucial know-how. Samsung’s bold plan consists of importing 50 EUV models over the following 5 years, with every unit priced at a hefty $153 million. This transfer is a part of the corporate’s broader aim to own over 100 EUV machines.
The importance of EUV know-how in semiconductor manufacturing can’t be overstated; it permits single-step imprinting of intricate circuit designs onto chips and is answerable for greater than half of the manufacturing price and time. Regardless of its effectivity, the complexity and expense of EUV machines imply that ASML can solely produce round 60 models yearly. TSMC at present secures about 70% of those models.
Samsung Foundry took the lead in producing first-generation 3nm chips in 2022 and is gearing as much as mass-produce second-generation 3nm chips subsequent 12 months, which can embrace the Exynos 2500. The corporate not solely showcased its Odyssey OLED gaming monitor but in addition introduced plans to manufacture even smaller 2nm chips by 2025 and additional all the way down to 1.4nm by 2027.
In a strategic transfer final 12 months, Samsung Electronics (KS:) Chairman Lee Jae-yong met with ASML CEO Peter Bennink within the Netherlands to safe an order for EUV machines. This go to was adopted by an invite from Dutch King Willem-Alexander to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Lee Jae-yong, and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who’re slated to go to the Netherlands on December 12-13.
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