Samsung Foundry Hosts “Samsung Foundry Forum 2019 Korea”

Samsung Foundry hosted the “Samsung Foundry Forum 2019 Korea” event at the Seoul Grand Intercontinental Parnas Hotel on July 3, pledging commitment to hand-in-hand growth with Korean fabless semiconductor companies and partners through Samsung’s cutting-edge foundry technologies. This year’s forum welcomed upwards of 500 representatives from fabless customers and foundry partners, approximately 40% more than the previous year. The event also featured almost double the number of technology booths showcasing the latest foundry technology trends, demonstrating increased interest in the event among Korean system semiconductor companies since Samsung Electronics’ proclamation of the “Semiconductor Vision 2030.” Samsung·Electronics'·“Semiconductor Vision 2030” announced in April aims to make Samsung the world's #1 system semiconductor manufacturer by 2030 through KRW 133 trillion in investment and 15,000 new jobs created. Samsung’s foundry portfolio exhibition at this year’s forum ranged from the latest EUV processes for Quaternary Industrial Revolution technology applications (AI, 5G, automotive electronics, IoT, etc.) to low-power FD-SOI 8-inch solutions. In his keynote, ES Jung, President and Head of Foundry Business at Samsung Electronics reminded participants that Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor business started with literally nothing, and through many trials and tribulations we have since established ourselves as the industry’s top player.”He added that, “The upward journey we have before us promises to be every bit as challenging, but with your continued interest and support, we are confident we will together be able to become the world’s greatest foundry.” Samsung Electronics is committed to “Establishing a cooperative ecosystem covering every step from development to mass production, including design services, manufacturing, and packaging.” This ecosystem will spur activity of Korean fabless semiconductor companies in a host of fields and new markets, promoting progress of the system semiconductor industry. Samsung Electronics engages diverse customer needs, with industry-leading expertise in 8-inch wafer processes, which are most in-demand among Korean small and medium fabless semiconductor companies, as well as established and market-proven 12-inch wafer processes. “Telechips is now 20 years old, and our progress has been hand-in-hand with that of Samsung foundry technologies all the way. We currently partner with Samsung in 14nm processes, and are seeking to continue our robust partnership into even better and more competitive products using 10nm and smaller processes,” said CEO Lee Jang Gyu of fabless semiconductor company Telechips. Samsung Electronics plans to furnish EUV-based ultrafine semiconductor processes at the 7nm and sub-7nm scales to Korean fabless semiconductor companies, in support of bleeding-edge, next-generation product development to cement the global leadership of the Korean system semiconductor industry. Furthermore, to facilitate fabless customers’ utilization of Samsung foundry process technologies and services, cooperation with Korean foundry partners will be expanded to cover intellectual property (IP), automated design tools (EDA), and outsource semiconductor assembly and testing (OSAT). Samsung Foundry is a leader in foundry technologies, announcing in April 2019 the launch of low-power 28nm FD-SOI process eMRAM solutions and 7nm FinFET products with improved performance and yield using EUV exposure technology, as well as development of next-generation 5nm processes. Particularly noteworthy was Samsung’s distribution of the 3nm Gate-All-Around Early PDK (Process Design Kit, v0.1) to its fabless customers. Next-gen Gate-All-Around transistors feature gates wrapping “all around” cylindrical channels for current, allowing even more precise current control.

▲ Dr. ES Jung, President and Head of Foundry Business at Samsung Electronics, delivers the keynote address at “Samsung Foundry Forum 2019 Korea” on July 3 at the Seoul Grand Intercontinental Parnas Hotel.