Samsung Electronics plans to launch high-end memory chip rental service

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest maker of memory chips, is considering launching a rental service for high-end memory chips as its new business model to ensure stable sales and revenue streams even when prices turn volatile.

According to recent news from the "Korea Economic News", sources said that Samsung Electronics has recently finalized "memory as a service" (MaaS) as a new business and is working on an implementation plan. Specifically, under the new business model, Samsung plans to sublease memory semiconductors used in high-performance computing (HPC), such as next-generation CXL DRAM packages and data storage devices called SSDs, to cloud service companies such as Google for a fee .

The deal looks like a bargain, and customers will be able to reduce costs associated with chip purchases by striking deals at pre-set contract prices, while getting systems management services for the life of such chips. For Samsung, the MaaS business can ensure a stable sales and revenue stream, especially in the case of a sharp drop in chip prices during the industry's down cycle.

Samsung has already introduced the new business model to customers, the people said. At present, Samsung Electronics hopes that new business will account for at least 10% of the overall sales revenue of the DRAM business.

As a result, "DRAM" is not just a commodity, but is becoming a customer-specific specialty chip. "This means that the development costs and sales prices of such chips are rising, which is actually a burden on customers." An industry veteran analyzed. This approach has actually been tested in other segments, such as in Silicon Valley, where large technology companies such as Microsoft and Oracle provide software to customers and receive monthly subscription fees through so-called SaaS, or software as a service.

This may be Samsung's commercial "curve to save the country". After all, it can be seen with the naked eye that Samsung's storage business is in a very bad situation this year.

In fact, since Micron, a major U.S. memory maker, has recently made severe financial forecasts and warned of shrinking market demand, this has drawn attention to the movements of another giant, Samsung Electronics. Korean media analysts believe that Samsung is unlikely to follow in the footsteps of its peers, including Micron Technology and SK Hynix, to reduce production and be cautious about the outlook for capital expenditures. In the past, Samsung has slashed prices when other memory chip makers scrambled to keep prices steady, the sources said.

The move comes as a crisis-ridden Samsung slashes its sales outlook while advancing its chip processing technology to stay ahead of rivals.