The orders will expand Samsung’s chip customer list, which mainly relies on telecommunications companies, to high-performance computing giants. Regarding Baidu, there is a question mark because the chips will be manufactured in Texas, and the US has imposed restrictions on China
Samsung already has four high-profile customers for its chips developed on the advanced 3nm process. NVIDIA, Qualcomm, IBM and Baidu have chosen the South Korean hardware giant as their supplier of the world’s most advanced manufacturing technology. This is according to a publication on the Korean economic website KED. According to the publication, according to publications in the Korean press, to date Samsung’s biggest customers are Apple, Verizon, Deutsche Telekom and Supreme Electronics, but with the transition to 3 nm technology, Samsung announced the American Fables companies Qualcomm and NVIDIA, the large IBM in the IT field and a service company Chinese artificial intelligence Baidu as its new customers.
The four companies want chips from Samsung, which, unlike its major competitor TSMC, has already begun mass production of the first generation of semiconductors based on the GAAFET and 3nm processes at Samsung’s factory in Hwaseong in June 2022. “Some companies are cutting their deals with Taiwanese companies. Instead, they are looking for a second and third supplier in other countries like Samsung,” said one of the interviewees to the article on the KED website.
The second generation of chips based on the 3 nm process, scheduled to enter production in 2023, will be able to reduce power consumption by up to 50%, improve performance by 30% and reduce the wafer area by 35% compared to the 5 nm process. Samsung is also building a $17 billion chip manufacturing plant in Williamson County, 40 miles from its existing facility in Austin, Texas.
As you remember, the US government banned the export of 3 nm process technology, including GAAFET, in August 2022. Therefore, it is very likely, but still unclear (considering that South Korea is an ally of the US) that the second generation of 3 nm based chips will be produced in the new plant in Texas and therefore will fall within the limits, what’s more, South Korea is a friend of the US and may also impose similar restrictions on sales to China.