Samsung Foundry Offers 5nm Process as 4nm Capacity Reaches Full Load
Samsung Foundry is proposing its 5nm process as an alternative for clients due to high demand filling its 4nm capacity. The company's 5nm production lines have recently secured orders for AI and HPC chips.
Samsung Foundry is reportedly offering its 5 nanometer process as an alternative option for chip design companies seeking advanced fabrication capacity. This comes as the company's 4nm advanced process nodes are operating at full capacity, driven by increased demand for components such as HBM4 Base Die memory chips and NVIDIA Groq LPU processors.
The move to promote the 5nm process addresses a capacity crunch in the more advanced 4nm nodes. Since Samsung's 4nm and 5nm technologies belong to a similar node family, the company had previously shifted significant 5nm capacity to 4nm production after the latter matured. This mirrors industry trends seen with competitors like TSMC.
Despite the focus on newer nodes, Samsung Foundry has maintained its SF5A process specifically for automotive chips, serving clients including Hyundai Motor, Bosch, and Telechips. However, recent reports indicate that its 5nm production lines have also begun receiving contract manufacturing orders for chips targeted at the AI and High-Performance Computing (HPC) sectors, suggesting an expansion in the application and customer base for this technology.
This strategy allows Samsung to optimize its foundry operations and provide flexible manufacturing solutions to meet the diverse and growing demands of the semiconductor market, particularly in high-growth areas like AI and automotive.