July 17, 2024 /SemiMedia/ -- According to reports, Samsung foundry has difficulty in obtaining large foundry customers and has postponed the construction of foundry production line at Pyeongtaek P4 plant, while the more profitable memory production line has been prioritized.

The report pointed out that the Pyeongtaek P4 plant is a state-of-the-art semiconductor production plant consisting of four phases, including foundry and memory production lines. Samsung originally planned to first build the memory production line PH1, then the wafer foundry production line PH2, followed by the memory production line PH3, and finally the wafer foundry production line PH4 to complete the construction of P4.

However, due to the deterioration of the foundry business and design changes, PH2 was temporarily interrupted and construction has been suspended. Samsung decided to first build PH3. It is reported that the construction of PH3, a memory production line such as DRAM, started last month.

The report pointed out that Samsung's wafer foundry revenue did not meet expectations because large customers such as Nvidia, Qualcomm, and AMD chose TSMC for foundry. In addition, the adjustment of the construction plan of the Pyeongtaek P4 plant production line was also considered to be the impact of the obvious differences between the memory business and the foundry business.

According to TrendForce, Samsung's foundry sales fell 9.0% from $3.69 billion in the third quarter of last year to $3.36 billion in the first quarter of this year. Its global foundry market share also fell sharply.