Samsung Securities: It is recommended that Samsung split the foundry department and go public in the United States

Recently, South Korean media BusinessKorea reported that a report from Samsung Securities, a subsidiary of Samsung Group, pointed out that with DRAM sales declining for two consecutive quarters, it is recommended that Samsung diversify its product portfolio in the foundry field, and it is also recommended that Samsung split the foundry. Department, listed in the United States, in order to compete with TSMC.

The report pointed out that due to the deterioration of the macro economy and the reduction of consumers' disposable income, Samsung's DRAM capacity utilization rate has declined, and the inventory burden has continued to increase. At the same time, global logistics problems may lead to the cancellation of customer orders, reducing sales amount and capacity utilization, so Samsung must focus on the development of the foundry business to balance the downward pressure on memory performance.

At present, Samsung is the world's largest memory manufacturer and the second largest wafer foundry in the world.

According to data previously released by market research firm TrendForce, in the first quarter of 2022, Samsung’s DRAM business achieved revenue of US$10.46 billion, with a market share of 43.5%; NAND Flash revenue of US$6.32 billion, with a market share of 35.3%; The revenue of the foundry business was US$5.328 billion, with a market share of 16.3%.

In the field of foundry, Samsung regards TSMC as one of its biggest competitors. The two sides have been competing to develop processes below 10 nanometers, and it has spread to advanced processes below 3 nanometers.

For example, Samsung has officially announced the mass production of 3nm chips at the end of June this year. TSMC's future advanced process roadmap previously announced at the North American Technology Forum shows that TSMC's 3nm (N3) process will be mass-produced in 2022, and its 2nm (N2) process will be mass-produced in 2025.

Samsung Securities believes that at present, about 38% and 37% of its foundry division's revenue comes from Qualcomm and its own Samsung LSI (system semiconductor business unit). If you want to develop the foundry business, you can consider building in the United States and Europe. foundry.

It is worth mentioning that before Samsung, another memory manufacturer, SK Hynix, also split its foundry business.