Samsung Foundry to restart some 4 nm production lines following fresh demand

Last year, Samsung Foundry suspended parts of its 4 nm, 5 nm and 7 nm fabs due to low demand. The company instead shifted focus to its newer 3 nm (and beyond) offerings. But, the company continues to struggle Now, there is fresh hope for the floundering business.

A report from Chosun (H/T @Jukanlosreve on X) says its 4 nm line will resume production at full capacity in June. The orders come from Samsung LSI, likely for mid-range Exynos chips and for HBM4 logic dies. Additionally, Chinese cryptocurrency mining ASIC makers are also customers. It is important to note one of Samsung's first 3 nm customers also belonged to that category.

But, this could be in jeopardy soon. Apparently, the United States sanction against China might force Samsung to drop these clients. Some Chinese fabless companies are already moving away from TSMC to local alternatives like SMIC, and it is possible some of them may have landed at Samsung Foundry. But, it is only a matter of time before Samsung Foundry sees such an exodus.

This will further complicate matters for the struggling chipmaker because trailing edge nodes generate revenue for future R&D endeavours. Without the cash injection, Samsung's already struggling cutting-edge nodes might fall further behind TSMC and Intel, after which Samsung may be forced to divest the company.