Samsung Foundry: 4nm Effectively Reaches Full Capacity, 5nm Steps Up Customer Acquisition, 2nm Negotiations Lagging

4nm Capacity Nearing Saturation, 5nm Becomes New expansion Direction

Samsung Electronics previously focused on competing with TSMC at cutting-edge nodes of 3nm and below, but in recent years it has lifted fab utilization and prioritized scaling its 4nm process. The 4nm node is widely deployed for smartphone application processors, AI semiconductors and high-performance computing chips.

As the AI semiconductor market expands, demand for foundry services on non-cutting-edge process nodes is on the rise. While leading-edge nodes deliver strong performance and power efficiency, they carry steep design and manufacturing costs. By contrast, 4nm and 5nm nodes can keep performance high while lowering manufacturing costs, making them suitable for certain AI inference chips and ASICs.
South Korean media reports that yield for Samsung's 4nm and 5nm processes is relatively stable. With a recent surge in customer orders, 4nm capacity at Samsung Electronics' Foundry division is nearing saturation. The company is stepping up sales efforts to win new customers for its 5nm process, which also helps lift utilization of existing production lines. Industry observers expect rising 4nm utilization plus incoming 5nm orders to boost Samsung Foundry's near-term financial performance.

2nm Customer Negotiations Slow Down, Cutting-edge Process Still Under validation

In contrast to the smooth rollout of 4nm and 5nm, Samsung still faces hurdles securing key customers for its next-generation flagship 2nm node.
Samsung Electronics is in talks with major global tech firms for 2nm semiconductor manufacturing contracts, yet several negotiations are progressing slower than expected. Leading-edge processes require validation not only of yield, but also of power efficiency, intellectual property readiness and stable mass-production capability. As a result, there is a substantial lead time from contract signing to volume production.

Samsung positions the 2nm process as the core growth engine for its next-generation foundry business. It plans to deploy the gate-all-around (GAA) transistor structure first introduced on its 3nm node to the 2nm process, to boost device power efficiency and performance. Beyond technical development, Samsung must prove its process competitiveness by landing key customers and achieving successful mass production.