The Hot Take: Samsung playing catch up and hopefully over take TSMC? Only time will tell.
Korean chip manufacturing giant Samsung is developing simulation technologies for lithography that rely on quantum computing and artificial intelligence, suggests a report from the Korean press. The technology will be used to run simulations of the first stage of the chip manufacturing process, and Samsung will also rely on artificial intelligence to streamline the process. Through the technology, the firm aims to reduce the time and cost of the lithography and etching processes. Samsung Is Developing Algorithms To Boost Its Photolithography, Say Sources In the semiconductor manufacturing process, lithography is the first and most important step. It involves high-end machines, […]Read full article at https://wccftech.com/samsung-chases-tsmc-with-quantum-powered-chipmaking-as-ai-reshapes-the-most-critical-step-in-fabrication/
A new class-action lawsuit filed in California accuses SK hynix, Samsung, and Micron of coordinating DRAM production to artificially restrict supply and maintain elevated prices for consumer memory products.
The Hot Take: About time. I've been saying they should have one for a while.
The big story in computing these days is how an ongoing shortage of RAM (dubbed RAMageddon or the RAMpocalypse) has led to massive increases in hardware costs. The conventional explanation of the situation has been that shortages have been driven by the widespread construction of AI data centers. However, a new lawsuit (Garciaguirre et al. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., et al.) filed against RAM manufacturers Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron, alleges that these companies are exploiting market conditions to artificially inflate prices.
The Hot Take: More manufacturing states side is good.
Samsung Electronics' foundry plant in Taylor, Texas, is showing signs of moving into equipment-level execution. Key engineers from ASML Korea, the Dutch lithography equipment giant's South Korean unit, have been dispatched to the Taylor facility and are expected to remain on site for roughly six to eight weeks, according to Korean industry publication DealSite.
Samsung's multi-billion dollar advanced chipmaking factory located in Taylor, Texas, is ready to start mass production of chips for clients.
The company has confirmed that everything is ready and that mass production of advanced chips for customers will begin next year.
2nm process advancement is underway as well
Margaret Han, Vice President of Samsung's foundry division in the US, said during the Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem Forum held at the company's US headquarters yesterday that “We are ready.” She added that “Customers will begin production at the Taylor fab starting next year.”
Samsung began construction on this factory back in 2022. Its total investment in the project is expected to exceed $17 billion. The company had previously said during the first quarter earnings call this year that the fab was “under construction.” It was stated that the goal was to begin operation within the year.
Tesla is among the customers who will have their chips produced at this factory. The carmaker already has a $16.5 billion deal with Samsung for the production of its AI5 and AI6 self-driving chips. Samsung will produce 2nm chips at the facility.
To further improve its technological edge at the US factory, Samsung will start building out the second-generation enhancement of its 2nm process in the near future. This process advancement has been tuned finely for AI workloads, potentially delivering a performance improvement of up to 30%.
The Hot Take: MacRumors posting about it give it more merrit to me.
Apple has held "exploratory" talks with Intel and Samsung about manufacturing the main processors for its devices in the United States, reports Bloomberg ($).
Apple is said to have had early-stage talks with Intel about using its chipmaking services, while Apple executives have reportedly visited a Samsung plant under construction in Texas that will also make advanced chips.
The talks are said to be preliminary, and no orders have been made so far, according to the report's sources who asked not to be identified. Apple is also said to have concerns about using technology that is not made by its longtime chip partner, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), so the talks could still go nowhere.
Apple is said to be seeking potential additional suppliers beyond TSMC as a way to avoid recent shortages almost entirely driven by the current build-out of AI data centers.
Heavy demand for Mac mini and Mac Studio models - sought-after because of their suitability for running local AI models - is also said to have been another factor. On an earnings call last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that Mac mini and Mac Studio supply is constrained, and he said it may take "several months" for Apple to achieve supply-demand balance.
Neither Intel nor Samsung can reliably provide the kind of production and scale that TSMC offers, so it's not clear how much, if anything, will come out of the discussions. Apple has already worked with TSMC to help expand its plant in Phoenix, which is now producing a limited number of chips for Apple and expects to make 100 million chips for the company in 2026.Tags: Bloomberg, Intel, SamsungThis article, "Apple Eyes Intel and Samsung as Backup US Chipmakers" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
The Hot Take: USA domestic manufacturing is taking off, TSMC announcing huge expansions in Arizona. Intel getting that Federal injection is definitely keeping them alive and making them relevant again. Probably also why Nvidia dumped money into Intel too to make sure there is choice states side.
TSMC is turning into a victim of its own success as the world's preferred chip foundry, leaving its heretofore prized customers such as Apple in a bind of sorts as they suddenly find themselves crowded out by AI hyperscalers. In its frustration, Apple is now reportedly exploring the possibility of dividing up its silicon load between Samsung, Intel, and TSMC rather than remaining largely TSMC-exclusive. Apple is looking for contingencies by tentatively probing Intel and Samsung as additional vectors for manufacturing its custom chips According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple has already held "early-stage talks" with Intel for using its […]Read full article at https://wccftech.com/apple-quietly-courts-intel-and-samsung-for-its-most-critical-chips-as-tsmcs-advanced-nodes-remain-choked-under-ai-demand/
The Hot Take: Charge top dollar your union workers are going to want a slice of that pie. Just like any Government.
Samsung Electronics is preparing for a significant labor disruption as its primary union has announced an 18-day general strike scheduled from May 21 to June 7, 2026.
The Hot Take: When do we start spinning up class action on this price rigging game?
SSD prices are already daft, and Samsung and Kingston have decided that now is the perfect time to whack them up by about 10 per cent.
Those Micro Centre shelves stacked with high-end drives costing thousands of dollars are heading for even sillier price tags, and budget gaming PC builds are getting mugged.
Samsung has sent out a price adjustment notice for SSD products, with increases said to exceed 10 per cent.
It has told three major domestic distributors that its cost prices have formally risen.
IT Home Source Bobantang wrote: “At the same time, Kingston announced yesterday that all SSD products across its lineup will implement a unified price increase starting this week, with adjustments of no less than 10 per cent.”
It said that supply chain chatter indicates Samsung and Kingston have issued official notices covering their whole SSD line-ups.
The expectation is at least a 10 per cent bump, which is a polite way of saying your next upgrade is going to sting.
That puts drives like the Samsung 990 PRO 1 TB, already priced at $300 to $330, on track to hit nearly $330 to $360.
A 1 TB 990 Pro used to sit for less than $100 last year, and now it is pushing three to four times that, like nothing happened.
This is being pitched as the second quiet price nudge this month, with Samsung and Western Digital previously hiking high-end M.2 SSD pricing hard.
Prices jumped fast worldwide, and some 8 TB models are reportedly selling for more than $4,000.
The story being whispered is NAND flash supply constraints, because retail demand alone does not usually pull this sort of stunt.
That would explain why every refresh feels like someone is charging rent on your PCIe lanes.
The knock-on effect is ugly for gamers, who do not want to settle for sub-1 TB of storage, even if they are willing to skimp on RAM.
OEMs are already leaning on higher SSD and RAM costs to bump system pricing, with LG’s Gram laptops getting hit by as much as $400.
AI infrastructure demand keeps warping the storage market, with vendors chasing server orders instead of shoppers trying to build a decent rig without selling a kidney.
The Hot Take: Good news for both of them! TSMC needs to be brought into check on 2nm to bring prices down for all of us.
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon has been spotted in Korea meeting with Samsung executives. The trip is all about manufacturing chips on the 2nm process, and there's a chance that Qualcomm will turn to Samsung to fabricate the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 SoCs.
Back at CES in January, Amon revealed that Qualcomm was talking to Samsung about this, and it seems like the discussions are still ongoing. If all this pans out and Qualcomm does indeed pick Samsung to fab the next top of the line Snapdragon SoC, it would mark a return to the Korean company for the first time since 2022, which is...