Samsung Foundry Obtains Production Orders at 2nm from Crypto Mining Companies
Samsung's foundry business has secured production orders for 2nm chips from two Chinese cryptocurrency mining companies, namely MicroBT and Canan. This recent development adds to Samsung's list of 2nm customers that already includes its System LSI division (for Exynos 2600) and Tesla (for AI6 chip), which is yet another sign of increasing technological competitiveness.
MicroBT and Canan Partnership Details
According to industry sources, Samsung Foundry is to manufacture 2nm application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for MicroBT and Canan, which are the world's number two and three mining equipment makers. These chips serve as their mining hardware's core processing units.
The companies supposedly opted for Samsung Foundry due to robust demand and the challenge of securing sufficient production capacity at TSMC, which supports the top mining firm, Bitmain. The production for MicroBT has commenced in Samsung's Gyeonggi Hwaseong S3 line. The initial wafer for Canan is set for production beginning next year around early, with shipments expected in the second half.
Implication for Samsung 2nm Business
Samsung will evaluate this order massively although from the volume perspective, there is no major order. Significance to Samsung to realize new customers for their 2nm process introduces a speedier acquisition.
Reported Order Details are:
- Order Volume: Approximately 2000 PCM 12 inch wafers combined.
- Capacity Share: This is around 10% of Samsung Electronics' total 2nm production capacity.
- Estimated Revenue: For approximately $20,000 per wafer 2nm, this deal could provide an estimated revenue of anywhere between $480 million annually, say 4% of Samsung Foundry's revenue approximately, last year.
Strengthening Competition with TSMC
Some analysts are projecting that if by acquiring customers like MicroBT and Canan, Samsung starts taking share away from rival TSMC. Samsung will start attracting more of TSMC customers such as Apple, Qualcomm, and AMD, perhaps by offering more competitive wafer prices.
To cater to this growth, Samsung Electronics is going for a total investment in its 2nm line at the Taylor plant, Texas. It is anticipated that the facility will be set to manufacture over 15,000 2nm wafers/month between H2 next year and up to 2027.
There is little we can say about the contract, Samsung Electronics commented about the contract, "We cannot confirm the details of the customer."
Source: hankyung
