Samsung Electronics Increases Local Workforce at Taylor Plant
Second Foundry Base in the US
Estimated 70% Yield Improvement in 4-Nanometer Process
AI Semiconductor Mass Production Planned... Presents 'GDP' Strategy
Samsung Electronics is expanding its workforce at its Taylor plant in the United States, strengthening its local foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) business. Recently, it has raised the yield rate (the ratio of good products among finished products) of its 4-nanometer (nm; 1 nm is one billionth of a meter) process to the 70% range, narrowing the gap with Taiwan's TSMC and enhancing its business competitiveness.
Samsung Electronics is currently recruiting personnel related to the foundry plant being built in Taylor, Texas. They are hiring experienced team leaders for construction site management and civil engineering of facilities, as well as design engineers for ultrapure water and industrial water treatment used in semiconductor production, electrical and fire protection design engineers for facilities, and mechanical engineers for equipment supervision locally. Additionally, they are recruiting employees for various roles such as maintenance staff within the plant and supervisors for photo process shift work.
Construction site of Samsung Electronics foundry factory being built in Taylor, Texas, USA / [Photo by Kyung Kye-hyun, President of Samsung Electronics, Instagram account]
The Taylor plant is Samsung Electronics' second foundry base in the United States. Following the Austin plant in Texas, Samsung is constructing the Taylor plant with a goal of completion within this year. The site area of the Taylor plant is 5 million square meters, about four times larger than the Austin plant. Once equipment installation and mass production preparations are complete, it is expected to operate in full scale from the end of next year. This is why Samsung Electronics is currently focusing on expanding its local workforce.
The Taylor plant will operate mainly focusing on advanced processes. Samsung plans to accept semiconductor orders in various fields such as 5th generation mobile communications (5G), artificial intelligence (AI), and high-performance computing (HPC) and showcase them here. Mass production of AI semiconductors using the 4 nm process is already scheduled. AI semiconductor companies Groq from the United States and Tenstorrent from Canada have announced that they will release their products through the Taylor plant.
Samsung Electronics has high expectations for the Taylor plant. The U.S. hosts not only big tech companies aiming to release their own chips but also fabless (semiconductor design) companies from various fields, making it advantageous to secure customers. The local customer sentiment, which hopes for products to be produced domestically, also fuels these expectations. Kyung Kye-hyun, President of Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions (DS) Division, said, "Major U.S. customers expect their products to be manufactured here (at the Taylor plant)."
Samsung Electronics' improvement in the 4 nm process yield also raises expectations. The semiconductor industry estimates that Samsung recently raised the 4 nm yield to the 70% range. Riding this trend, Samsung is also enhancing its 3 nm process technology. After introducing the 3 nm process based on the next-generation transistor technology called Gate-All-Around (GAA) in June last year, the company plans to fully launch the 2nd generation 3 nm process next year.
Meanwhile, through a recent investor event called the Investors Forum, the company forecasted that the foundry market will grow at an average annual rate of 11% until 2028, surpassing the overall semiconductor market growth rate of 4%. It also announced plans to focus on high-performance computing (HPC) and automotive semiconductors. Going forward, Samsung intends to concentrate on the 'GDP' business strategy, which includes GAA technology, next-generation DRAM, and advanced packaging to improve semiconductor performance and power efficiency.
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