The operating rate of South Korea's foundry continues to decline, and Samsung is no exception

According to the Korean media THE ELEC, due to the decline in demand for chips due to the decline in demand for consumer electronics products, the demand for Korean chip foundry manufacturers such as Samsung, DB Hitek, SK Hynix's foundry Key Foundry, Magnachip and SK Hynix has also declined.

In terms of 8-inch wafers, the operating rates of Samsung, DB Hitek and Key Foundry are all between 60% and 70%. In terms of 12-inch wafers, the operating rate of Samsung's 12-inch fab remains at around 80%. It is reported that Samsung has five semiconductor factories in South Korea. The company also operates three chip factories in Suzhou, Tianjin and Xi'an, and one chip factory in Austin, Texas, USA.

In early December last year, Korean media reported that due to weakening demand for IT products due to global inflation, the operating rate of South Korean fabs began to decline sharply from the fourth quarter. In addition to the strong demand for advanced nodes of Samsung Electronics, DB Hitek, Key foundry , Magnachip, SK Hynix and other South Korean foundry companies are seeing declining operating rates.

Today, the operating rate of production facilities of Korean chip foundries continues to decline, and this trend is expected to continue at least until the second quarter of this year.

Samsung's rivals have scaled back investments due to falling demand and a glut of chips. However, in October last year, Samsung bucked the trend and announced that it would not intentionally cut chip production, which is contrary to the trend of the entire industry to cut production to meet medium and long-term demand. In January, Korean media disclosed that Samsung may reduce its foundry investment expenditure. Along with TSMC, Kioxia, SK Hynix, Nanya Branch and other major semiconductor manufacturers, they also lowered their capital expenditures and even reduced their production.