Samsung to spend $116B in next decade to overtake chipmakers TSMC, Intel, Qualcomm
Samsung this week said it intends to spend $116 billion by 2030 in order to beat the likes of Intel, Qualcomm, and TSMC for a lead role in logic chip manufacturing.
Samsung's Austin facilities.
The effort also includes a goal of adding 15,000 production and research jobs, Bloomberg reported. Samsung is known for its memory production and Exynos phone processors, but Intel is in firm control of PC and server chips, and Qualcomm is a leader in both cellular modems and mobile processors.
At one stage Samsung was the exclusive manufacturer of A-series processors for iPhones and iPads, but legal and competitive battles ultimately led to Apple transitioning to TSMC. In fact securing new Apple processor orders could be essential if Samsung is to beat out rival chipmakers, given that Apple is often the largest client for any company in its supply chain.
A June 2018 rumor suggested that Samsung was pushing hard to secure "A13" orders for 2019 iPhones. By October, however, it was reported that Apple had once again settled on TSMC.
Semiconductor sales have already become Samsung's best business segment, generating three-quarters of its 2018 operating income. It will have some work to do to catch up with others though -- TSMC, for example, is investing $10-11 billion during 2019, and could spend still more if it looks like Samsung poses a threat.
Intel will likely retain control of the PC world for now, said a director at the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, Ahn Ki-hyun. The company's chips have been de facto in both Mac and Windows PCs for decades, and while AMD and ARM chips are valid alternatives, they face an uphill struggle for marketshare.
Samsung's Austin facilities.
The effort also includes a goal of adding 15,000 production and research jobs, Bloomberg reported. Samsung is known for its memory production and Exynos phone processors, but Intel is in firm control of PC and server chips, and Qualcomm is a leader in both cellular modems and mobile processors.
At one stage Samsung was the exclusive manufacturer of A-series processors for iPhones and iPads, but legal and competitive battles ultimately led to Apple transitioning to TSMC. In fact securing new Apple processor orders could be essential if Samsung is to beat out rival chipmakers, given that Apple is often the largest client for any company in its supply chain.
A June 2018 rumor suggested that Samsung was pushing hard to secure "A13" orders for 2019 iPhones. By October, however, it was reported that Apple had once again settled on TSMC.
Semiconductor sales have already become Samsung's best business segment, generating three-quarters of its 2018 operating income. It will have some work to do to catch up with others though -- TSMC, for example, is investing $10-11 billion during 2019, and could spend still more if it looks like Samsung poses a threat.
Intel will likely retain control of the PC world for now, said a director at the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, Ahn Ki-hyun. The company's chips have been de facto in both Mac and Windows PCs for decades, and while AMD and ARM chips are valid alternatives, they face an uphill struggle for marketshare.
Comments
ARM for example has a big push to be the best in server space, and I think they already got there in $/TFLOP and TFLOP/watt .
Phones are a commodity business, and Samsung is poor at software (which would allow them to differentiate). This just makes sense...
Fuc* shamesung.
We've hit the end of Moore's law 3 years ago, and the industry looks like it's consolidating. You can make money in this era by maximizing sales of existing lines (Intel at 14nm and re-opening 22nm lines), or you can forge ahead with new lines (Apple, TSMC at 7nm and going to 5nm) though with high risk and exponentially increasing R&D costs. It looks like Samsung feels that going forward is better.
I seldom see a 11-year plan announced, especially in the technology industry where things change so fast.
Bloomberg's comment, "Samsung unveiled the investment plans the same week it suffered a setback in its mobile phone business." gives a very strong rationale for the announcement.
Plan A Folded, so on to Plan B: improving its most important area of revenue.
As for software, it is very fair to say that Samsung used to release terrible software. However one ui which came out with pie is generally very good. In fact I have never had an app or phone crash on my note 9, ever! I have however on my iPad. It’s fine for us to have preferences but let’s accept that is what they.