TSMC Pressed... Samsung's Pursuit Roadmap Toward 'No.1 in System Semiconductors'

Samsung Tech Day 2022 Unveils System Semiconductor Strategy
From Human Intelligence-Inspired Products to Integrated Solutions

On the 5th (local time), Lee Jung-bae, President of the Memory Business Division, is giving a presentation at 'Samsung Tech Day 2022' held in Silicon Valley, USA.
[Photo by Samsung Electronics]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Ye-ju] "Following memory semiconductors, we will definitely become number one in system semiconductors including foundries." (April 2019, Samsung Electronics Hwaseong Campus, Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics)

On the 5th (local time) at 'Samsung Tech Day 2022' held in Silicon Valley, USA, Samsung Electronics unveiled a new roadmap for a 'super-gap' in system semiconductor technology. The core idea is to develop advanced system semiconductors close to human-level intelligence and organically integrate them to provide integrated solutions as a fabless (semiconductor design) company. This also signals the start of an aggressive move to surpass Taiwan's TSMC.

Samsung Electronics holds a portfolio of about 900 system semiconductors including ▲System on Chip (SoC) ▲Image Sensors ▲Modems ▲Display Driver ICs (DDI) ▲Power Management ICs (PMIC) ▲Security Solutions. They plan to provide optimized integrated solutions tailored to customer needs through 'platform solutions' that fuse product technologies.

In particular, Samsung Electronics forecasts that the 4th Industrial Revolution era will require hyper-intelligence, hyper-connectivity, and hyper-data, and announced plans to develop cutting-edge system semiconductors that provide performance close to human functions.

In SoC, Samsung will enhance the performance of key intellectual properties (IPs) such as Neural Processing Units (NPU) and modems, while collaborating with global partners to develop industry-leading Central Processing Units (CPU) and Graphics Processing Units (GPU). They will develop ultra-high-resolution image sensors close to the human eye and sensors capable of detecting and implementing human senses.

At this event, Samsung Electronics showcased advanced system semiconductor products through booth exhibitions. New products such as ▲next-generation automotive SoC 'Exynos Auto V920' ▲5G modem 'Exynos Modem 5300' ▲DDI for QD OLED, as well as ▲premium mobile AP 'Exynos 2200' ▲200-megapixel image sensor 'ISOCELL HP3' with the industry's smallest pixel size ▲fingerprint authentication IC products for biometric authentication cards were also unveiled.

Earlier, on the 3rd (local time), at the 'Samsung Foundry Forum 2022' held in Silicon Valley, USA, Samsung attracted industry attention by announcing plans for 1.4-nanometer mass production in 2027. This officially formalized an advanced process plan surpassing 2 nanometers ahead of competitor Taiwan's TSMC, signaling a super-gap technology competition in the foundry sector as well.

Park Yong-in, President of Samsung Electronics System LSI Business Division, said, "In the 4th Industrial Revolution era where objects must learn and judge like humans, the importance of system semiconductors that act as the brain, heart, neural network, and vision of humans will grow more than ever." He added, "Samsung Electronics will organically integrate key technologies of various products such as SoC, image sensors, DDI, and modems to become an 'integrated solution fabless' leading the 4th Industrial Revolution era."

Meanwhile, according to market research firm Omdia, the global foundry market is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 13.4%, from $98.6 billion this year to $145.6 billion in 2025. According to Taiwanese market research firm TrendForce, in the second quarter of this year, TSMC held the top global foundry market share at 53.4%, with Samsung Electronics in second place at 16.5%. Samsung increased its share by 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous quarter, slightly narrowing the gap with TSMC.