Producer
Samsung Foundry
Samsung Foundry is the semiconductor contract manufacturing division of Samsung Electronics (KRX: 005930); the only sub-5nm foundry competitor to TSMC. Samsung was first to production with GAA (gate-all-around) transistors at 3nm (3GAE, June 2022) but has been plagued by yield problems: 3nm yields reportedly stuck at ~50% after three years of production (2025) versus TSMC's ~90% on N3. No major AI chip customer win at 3nm — Qualcomm abandoned dual-foundry Samsung strategy in favor of exclusive TSMC. Samsung holds ~7-10% of sub-5nm advanced logic market. Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek Korea fabs are primary advanced logic sites. Taylor, Texas fab (4nm, $25B investment) under construction. CHIPS Act recipient: $6.4B grant. Samsung's strongest foundry position is HBM memory (Pyeongtaek P3/P4) rather than logic.
1
Inputs supplied
1
Goods downstream
2
Facilities
0
Stories
What they make
1 input Samsung Foundry supplies
Click an input to see every good that depends on it, every country that produces it, and every other company in the supply chain.
Where it shows up
Goods downstream
Essential goods that depend on something Samsung Foundry makes — pick one to see the full supply chain.
Where they make it
2 facilities
Samsung Hwaseong V1 Line — 3nm/4nm →
KRGyeonggi-do · fab
Samsung Semiconductor's Hwaseong campus, Line V1 — primary advanced logic production line for 3nm GAA (3GAE/3GAP) and 4nm EUV (4LPP/4LPX) foundry nodes. First in the world to produce 3nm GAA chips (June 2022). Plagued by yield issues: 3nm yields reportedly ~50% after three years (2025), versus TSMC N3 approaching 90%. No major AI chip customer win at 3nm. Samsung has won some orders from Qualcomm (Snapdragon X Elite uses 4nm) and Exynos internal products. Source: https://www.trendforce.com/news/2025/05/29/news-samsungs-3nm-yield-reportedly-stuck-at-50-far-behind-tsmcs-90/
Samsung Taylor, Texas Fab — 4nm →
USTexas · fab
Samsung Semiconductor's Taylor, Texas fab — $25B investment; 4nm EUV foundry node targeted for external customers. Construction ongoing as of 2025; production start date repeatedly delayed (originally 2024, now estimated 2026–2027). CHIPS Act: $6.4B grant. This facility represents Samsung's primary bet on US-domestic advanced foundry services. Source: https://www.reuters.com/technology/samsung-breaks-ground-new-semiconductor-plant-texas-2022-11-24/
What else they do
Business segments
The company's full revenue map — where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
Advanced Logic Foundry (sub-7nm)
45%DRAM Memory
30%NAND Flash
15%Advanced Packaging
10%
Intelligence
What's known
Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains — chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.
Did you know2024
Samsung Foundry manufactures chips for external customers (competing with TSMC), but Samsung Electronics simultaneously designs and sells its own chips (Exynos processors, modem chips) that compete directly with the customers Samsung Foundry is trying to attract (Qualcomm, Apple). This creates an inherent conflict of interest that TSMC (a pure-play foundry with no in-house chip design) does not have: chip designers sending designs to Samsung Foundry are effectively sharing their proprietary IP with a direct product competitor. Apple historically moved its iPhone chip manufacturing from Samsung to TSMC after becoming concerned about this dynamic. The foundry customer supply chain and the competing Samsung chip design supply chain are inseparably intertwined in the same Korean conglomerate.
Samsung Electronics ↗Origin2023
Samsung Electronics entered semiconductor manufacturing in 1974, initially buying equity in Korea Semiconductor Co. The foundational moment came in 1983 when Chairman Byung-Chul Lee personally announced Samsung's entry into DRAM — widely seen as suicidal against established US and Japanese players. Samsung's DRAM gamble succeeded because Korean government support, aggressive capital deployment, and willingness to operate at a loss longer than competitors allowed it to capture scale. Samsung formally established its dedicated foundry division in 2017, competing directly with TSMC for third-party contract manufacturing, moving from exclusively serving its own semiconductor designs to an open customer model.
Samsung Electronics ↗