Samsung is considering spinning off its chip foundry and listing it on a U.S. stock exchange
Problems with Samsung Foundry will result in the annual Foundry Forum being held online this year. | Image credit-Samsung
For example, if a particular wafer had the potential to be cut into 300 dies and 150 passed Quality Control, that would be a yield of 50%. Samsung Foundry reportedly has been suffering through issues with its yield on 3nm production using Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistors in the single digits during the first quarter of this year. A more recent report suggests that Samsung Foundry’s yield on 3nm GAA chips is in the 10%-20% range.
The gate on GAA transistors can come into contact with the channel on all four sides reducing current leak and improving the drive current. This results in higher-performing chips consuming less energy. Samsung Foundry started using GAA with its 3nm node while TSMC will start using these transistors next year when it starts 2nm production.
How will Samsung Foundry’s low yield for 3nm GAA impact the Galaxy S25 flagship line?
If Samsung decides instead to use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 to power all of its Galaxy S25 series models, we might see a huge price hike by Samsung. That’s because Qualcomm’s upcoming flagship chipset will be priced up to 20% above its predecessor according to a reliable leaker.
Samsung Foundry’s yield issues have continued and as an example of the problems Samsung is having with the business, it will hold its annual Foundry Forum online. During the middle of this month, before the Forum is held, Samsung is expected to report on the third-quarter performance of its different business segments. The unit that includes the Foundry is forecast to report an operating loss of close to 500 billion won (approximately $385 million).
Samsung might indeed feel that it is better off monetizing its Foundry by taking it public in the U.S. After all, TSMC’s market capitalization on the New York Stock Exchange exceeds $810 billion as the shares trade at 32 times earnings.