Samsung Raises Chipmaking Prices Up to 15% as AI Demand Fills Advanced Foundry Capacity

Samsung raises advanced foundry prices by up to 15% as AI demand fills its 4nm lines, report claims -- Chinese customers accepting the largest hikes

Samsung raised prices on new orders across its 4nm, 5nm, and 8nm foundry processes in July, with increases reaching 15% for customers in China and the U.S., Reuters has reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. Chinese chip designers, cut off from advanced chipmaking tools by U.S. export controls, are accepting the largest hikes, and Samsung's 4nm line at Pyeongtaek has reportedly been running at full capacity since late last year. The increases come not too long after Samsung cut its 2nm wafer price to $20,000 in a reported attempt to undercut TSMC by roughly a third. Customers in China and the U.S. saw quotes for the 4nm SF4 process climb 10% to 15% from June, while customers in Taiwan saw smaller increases of 5% to 10%, one source said. Wafers on the 5nm SF5 process rose 10% to 15%, and the 8nm node went up by close to 10%. Samsung declined to comment on the report. Chinese orders now exceed what Samsung can take on because U.S. customers get served first and a slice of capacity stays reserved for Samsung's own silicon. This captive demand situation isn't new, with the Financial Times reporting last year that Samsung's chip exports to China grew 54% between 2023 and 2024, including a deal that supplied Baidu's Kunlun with more than three years' worth of logic dies for AI accelerators. The Pyeongtaek SF4 line builds logic chips for Qualcomm alongside the base dies underneath Samsung's own HBM stacks, meaning external foundry customers compete for wafer starts with Samsung's memory division, the business that drove its record profits. Counterpoint put Samsung at 7% of global foundry revenue in Q1 2026 against more than 70% for TSMC, but that gap is doing Samsung a favor on pricing: TSMC's leading-edge capacity is booked out by AI orders, and the market leader notified customers of 5% to 10% increases across all sub-5nm nodes starting in January, with some services reportedly rising around 25% in 2027. Samsung is raising prices beneath that umbrella and still landing below where TSMC's quotes are headed. Samsung's foundry division has been loss-making since 2022, and Lee Min-hee, an analyst at BNK Investment & Securities, told the wire service that if Samsung keeps raising prices, "its foundry business could potentially become profitable as early as next year." The customer list backing that forecast has grown over the past year, spanning Tesla's $16.5 billion AI chip contract, an Apple manufacturing deal, a Broadcom AI chip agreement, and Nvidia's inference processor. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.

Samsung hikes chipmaking prices by up to 15% on demand spike, sources say

Aug 19 (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), opens new tab has raised prices for some advanced contract chipmaking services by up to 15% for new orders, two people familiar with the matter said, as demand for AI chips tightens capacity in a business long dominated by TSMC. Demand from Chinese customers has been particularly strong, but Samsung has been unable to meet all orders because it must serve U.S. customers and reserve part of its capacity to support its own chip production, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are discussing sensitive commercial matters. Chinese customers are among those accepting the steepest price increase, one of the sources said, underscoring how U.S. curbs on exports of advanced chipmaking equipment to China have increased local firms' reliance on overseas foundries. The price hikes mark a turnaround for Samsung's foundry business, which has been a loss ⁠maker since 2022, according to industry estimates. The division has struggled to narrow the gap with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (2330.TW), opens new tab, even as Samsung reported record profits, driven by soaring prices for memory chips used in AI systems. Samsung raised prices in July for chips made using its 4-nanometre process, known as SF4, the sources said. Prices for SF4 customers in China and the U.S. were increased 10% to 15% from the previous month, while customers in Taiwan, home to TSMC, saw increases of 5% to 10%, according to one of the sources. Prices for wafers produced by its 5-nanometre SF5 process rose by 10% to 15%, while those for its older 8-nanometre technology rose by nearly 10%, according to the source. Samsung declined to comment as the company does not provide details on operational matters. CUSTOMER LEVERAGE Samsung produced 7% of global foundry revenue in the first quarter of 2026, compared with more than 70% for TSMC, according to research firm Counterpoint. However, demand for AI chips has booked up much of TSMC's leading-edge capacity. Samsung expects advanced processes to account for more than ⁠half of foundry revenue this year, while AI and high-performance-computing applications would make up more than 30%, up from 15% to 20% in late 2025. With TSMC's production taken up, Samsung has more leverage to raise prices. "As TSMC faces tight capacity and raises prices, customers are shifting to rivals such as Samsung and Intel, prompting Samsung to raise its prices as well," said Lee Min-hee, a Seoul-based analyst at BNK Investment & Securities. "If Samsung raises prices from here, its foundry business could potentially become profitable as early as next year, earlier than previously expected," Lee said. Samsung's SF4 ⁠production line at its Pyeongtaek, South Korea, plant has been running at full capacity since late last year, said a person familiar with the company's operations. The line produces logic chips for customers including Qualcomm (QCOM.O), opens new tab as well as base dies used in Samsung's own multi-layer high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, the person said. Samsung said in July it expects the foundry unit to return to profit in ⁠the near future, helped by higher factory utilization, better production yields and firmer pricing. It also said then rising sales to major U.S. and Chinese customers, along with demand for HBM base dies, should help lift foundry revenue by more than double-digit percentage points in the second half from a year earlier. Improvements in production yields have also helped Samsung ⁠win customers. Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab and Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab unveiled chip manufacturing deals with Samsung last year. Samsung also announced an AI chip production deal with Broadcom (AVGO.O), opens new tab in July, while Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in March that Samsung would manufacture its new AI inference processor. Google is also in talks with Samsung to manufacture chips using SF4, said one of the two sources familiar with the price increases. Google did not respond to a request for comment. Reporting by Reuters Staff; Editing by Eduardo Baptista, Miyoung Kim and Christian Schmollinger Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Artificial Intelligence * ADAS, AV & Safety * Software-Defined Vehicle * Sustainable & EV Supply Chain

Samsung hikes chipmaking prices by up to 15% on demand spike

Demand from Chinese customers has been particularly strong, but Samsung has been unable to meet all orders because it must serve US customers and reserve part of its capacity to support its own chip production, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are discussing sensitive commercial matters. Samsung Electronics has raised prices for some advanced contract chipmaking services by up to 15% for new orders, two people familiar with the matter said, as demand for AI chips tightens capacity in a business long dominated by TSMC. Demand from Chinese customers has been particularly strong, but Samsung has been unable to meet all orders because it must serve US customers and reserve part of its capacity to support its own chip production, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are discussing sensitive commercial matters. Chinese customers are among those accepting the steepest price increase, one of the sources said, underscoring how US curbs on ⁠exports of ⁠advanced chipmaking equipment to China have increased local firms' reliance on overseas foundries. The price hikes mark a turnaround for Samsung's foundry business, which has been a loss maker since 2022, according to industry estimates. The division has struggled to narrow the gap with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, even as Samsung reported record profits, driven by soaring prices for memory chips used in AI systems. Samsung raised prices in July for chips made using its 4-nanometre process, known as SF4, the sources said. Prices for SF4 customers in China and the US were increased 10% to 15% from the previous month, while customers in Taiwan, home to TSMC, saw increases of 5% to 10%, according to one of the sources. Prices for wafers produced by ⁠its 5-nanometre SF5 process rose by 10% to 15%, while those for its older 8-nanometre technology rose by nearly 10%, according to the source. Samsung declined to comment as the company does not provide details on operational matters. Customer leverage Samsung produced 7% of global foundry ⁠revenue in the first quarter of 2026, compared with more than 70% for TSMC, according to research firm Counterpoint. However, demand for AI chips has booked up much of TSMC's leading-edge capacity. Samsung expects advanced processes to account for more than half of foundry revenue this year, while AI and high-performance-computing applications would make up more than 30%, up from 15% to 20% in late 2025. With TSMC's production taken up, Samsung has more leverage to raise prices. "As TSMC faces tight capacity and raises prices, customers are shifting to rivals such as Samsung and Intel, prompting Samsung to raise its prices as well," said Lee Min-hee, a Seoul-based analyst at BNK Investment & Securities. "If Samsung raises prices from here, its foundry business could potentially become profitable as early as next year, earlier than previously expected," Lee said. Samsung's SF4 production line at its Pyeongtaek, South Korea, plant has been running at full capacity since late last year, said a person familiar with the company's operations. The line produces logic chips for customers including Qualcomm as well as base dies used in Samsung's ⁠own multi-layer high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, the person said. Samsung said in July it expects the foundry unit to return to profit in the near future, helped by higher factory utilization, better production yields and firmer pricing. It also said then rising sales to major US and Chinese customers, along with demand for HBM base dies, should help lift foundry revenue by more than double-digit percentage points in the second half from a year earlier. Improvements in production yields have also helped Samsung win customers. Tesla and Apple unveiled chip manufacturing deals with Samsung last year. Samsung also announced an AI chip production deal with Broadcom in July, while Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in March that Samsung would manufacture its new AI inference processor. Google is also in talks with Samsung to manufacture chips using SF4, said one of the two sources familiar with the price increases. Google did not respond to a request for comment.

Samsung's DRAM And NAND Flash Success Branches Out To Advanced Chipmaking And Services, Company Forced To Increase Prices By Up To 15% Due To Extreme Demand

Demand for AI chips has struck an insanely positive note for Samsung because the latest report states that due to overwhelming demand for wafers mass-produced on advanced processes, the Korean giant has raised prices by up to 15 percent on new orders. This move comes just a month after TSMC stated that it will raise wafer prices by up to 10 percent in 2027. New report states that Chinese customers will face the brunt of these price increases, as Samsung caters to U.S. clients first Thanks to U.S. export controls, China is barred from purchasing advanced EUV equipment that would enable it to obtain a competitive edge against rivals, meaning that the country is limited to using SMIC's 2nm process. According to Reuters, Chinese customers will face Samsung's steepest price hikes, with prices rising between 10 and 15 percent. Also, to maintain its position at the top of the food chain, U.S. customers will be served first, but they will still be subjected to the increased chip prices. Irrespective of how difficult these premiums are for these clients, it should be noted that this marks the first time Samsung is enjoying a massive turnaround in its foundry business, which has suffered a barrage of losses since 2022. Where TSMC previously gobbled up waves of customers, Samsung is finally starting to witness some action. As for which nodes have become more expensive, the 4nm (SF4) process will be between 10 and 15 percent more expensive for U.S. and Chinese customers, whereas Taiwanese clients will pay a 5 to 10 percent higher sum. As for the 5nm node (SF5), prices have risen by 5 to 10 percent, while the 8nm process's price has been raised by 10 percent, according to sources familiar with the matter. Interestingly, there is no mention of any of Samsung's 2nm nodes, which are not only the most advanced but also the most complex to mass-manufacture and come with a higher price. Samsung recently inked a lucrative $200 billion deal with Broadcom to provide it with its 2nm technology and HBM4 memory, signaling to the entire industry that the foundry giant's days of incurring losses are over. Given that TSMC is also experiencing a supply choke, it only makes sense that AI companies diversify their foundry partners to help obtain chip shipments in a timely fashion. News Source: Reuters Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.