Samsung will pursue a 'two-track' strategy to narrow the tech gap with TSMC and fend off fast follower SMIC
kedglobal.com, Dec. 09, 2024 –
Samsung Electronics Co.'s new contract chipmaking business chief said on Monday he will go all-in to improve the company's advanced 2-nanometer chip processing technology and secure more clients to take on foundry rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
In his inaugural message to Samsung employees as head of its foundry business, Han Jin-man said he will pursue a "two-track strategy" to narrow Samsung's technology gap with TSMC and fend off competition with fast followers, including China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., better known as SMIC.
Samsung, the world's No. 1 memory chipmaker, last month promoted Han, executive vice president of its US semiconductor business, to president and named him to lead its foundry business, which has been incurring sizable losses for years.
Han previously worked in design teams for DRAM and flash memory and led solid-state drive development and strategic marketing.
The new Samsung foundry leader will be tasked with securing large companies such as Qualcomm, AMD and Nvidia as its clients.
'RELIEF PITCHER'
The South Korean tech giant last month reshuffled its top brass in a sweeping move as it faces an uphill battle against memory rival SK Hynix Inc. and foundry rival TSMC.
Samsung also created the chief technology officer (CTO) position for its foundry business to bolster its contract chipmaking business.