Customers in China and the U.S. saw quotes for the 4nm SF4 process climb 10% to 15% from June, while customers in Taiwan saw smaller increases of 5% to 10%, one source said. Wafers on the 5nm SF5 process rose 10% to 15%, and the 8nm node went up by close to 10%. Samsung declined to comment on the report.
Chinese orders now exceed what Samsung can take on because U.S. customers get served first and a slice of capacity stays reserved for Samsung's own silicon. This captive demand situation isn't new, with the Financial Times reporting last year that Samsung's chip exports to China grew 54% between 2023 and 2024, including a deal that supplied Baidu's Kunlun with more than three years' worth of logic dies for AI accelerators.
The Pyeongtaek SF4 line builds logic chips for Qualcomm alongside the base dies underneath Samsung's own HBM stacks, meaning external foundry customers compete for wafer starts with Samsung's memory division, the business that drove its record profits.
Counterpoint put Samsung at 7% of global foundry revenue in Q1 2026 against more than 70% for TSMC, but that gap is doing Samsung a favor on pricing: TSMC's leading-edge capacity is booked out by AI orders, and the market leader notified customers of 5% to 10% increases across all sub-5nm nodes starting in January, with some services reportedly rising around 25% in 2027 . Samsung is raising prices beneath that umbrella and still landing below where TSMC's quotes are headed.
TSMC eyes price hikes of up to 25% on chip production services in 2027, report claims
TSMC is reportedly hiking prices for 'all advanced nodes,' accounting for 74% of the company’s wafer business
Samsung Foundry updates process roadmap to move 1.4nm to 2029
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/samsung-raises-advanced-foundry-prices-by-up-to-15-percent-as-ai-demand-fills-its-4nm-lines#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.