TSMC, #1 foundry, invests up to 31 trillion won

Second place Samsung Electronics also invested 12 trillion won this year
Intensifying competition for non-memory investment
TSMC, number one in global foundry (consignment production of semiconductors), announced its largest investment this year. While demand is clear, analysts say that leading companies are raising the’investment barrier’. Samsung Electronics, second place, is also expected to make an all-time investment this year.

According to foreign media such as the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 17th, TSMC in Taiwan announced its results in the fourth quarter of last year (October-December) on the 14th of this month, and in a conference call this year’s facility investment amounted to 25 billion to 28 billion dollars (about 27 to 31 trillion won). ) Said it would be scale. This is a 62.4% increase from last year’s investment ($17.2 billion, about 19 trillion won). In addition, the total facility investment of the top five global foundry companies in 2020 (US$ 24.4 billion, about 27 trillion won) is a’unprecedented’ scale.

The expansion of ultra-fine processes is cited as the background for TSMC’s largest facility investment in history. Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) processes are applied to ultra-fine processes below 5nm (nanometers and 1nm are 1 billionth of a meter), and only EUV equipment costs 150 to 200 billion won. Another background is the surge in demand for system semiconductors due to the expansion of high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI).

For Samsung Electronics, which has set a goal to beat TSMC and rise to the top in the world by 2030, TSMC’s aggressive actions are somewhat burdensome. The semiconductor industry can compete with TSMC for ultra-fine processes up to the 5nm and 3nm level, and Samsung Electronics is the only foundry company that can make large-scale facility investments in the long term. Samsung Electronics is also expected to rush the pursuit with an all-time investment. NH Investment & Securities announced in a recent report that “Samsung Electronics’ investment in non-memory (system semiconductor) will increase from 6 trillion won in 2020 to 12 trillion won in 2021.” Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is also leading the foundry war. Last year, they visited the Dutch ASML, which makes EUV equipment, and emphasized cooperation.
Reporter Kim Hyun-soo [email protected]Go to reporter page>