The official added, “The management consulting investigates the claims on the yield of a semiconductor foundry by former and current DS division executives. The consulting will determine whether the claims are false.”
If this story sounds strange and bizarre, that’s because it is. Frankly, we can’t think of a story that is similar to this one. And that means that until more official statements are issued by Samsung or even the police in Korea, we should take this report with a grain of salt.
Samsung’s foundry business set a company record for revenue during the fourth quarter of 2021. On a sequential basis, profits declined from the third quarter of last year as Samsung had to spend more money to ramp up advanced process nodes such as 4nm and 3nm. Whether some of that money has to do with the funds allegedly missing is not clear.
The increase in revenue to a record high in the foundry business came from increased sales to HPC (High Performance Computing) customers. For the current quarter, the first quarter of 2022, Samsung said that its foundry would “focus on improving its advanced process yield to improve its supply stability. Also, the Company will continue technical leadership through mass production of the 1st generation GAA process in the first half of 2022.”
GAA, or Gate All Around, is a transistor structure associated with Samsung’s 3nm process node. It replaces (for Samsung, anyway) the FinFET structure used presently.
Samsung Foundry says that the chip market will remain “tight” as 5G penetrates more market, and demand from High Performance Computing firms remains solid. Additionally, the need for manufacturers to have more chips than needed just in case there is a supply shock from an external event, and outsourcing demand from integrated device manufacturers (ISDMs) who design and build their own chips (like Intel) will keep the assembly lines humming in 2022.
For this year, Samsung expects supply to remain tight due to rising penetration of 5G, solid HPC demand, growing out-sourcing from IDM players and continued needs for securing safety inventory. The Company aims to exceed market growth by expanding capacity at advanced nodes, adjusting prices and adding new customers.