Samsung Electronics' Foundry Business is expected to operate at full capacity this year, moving towards turning losses into profits.

August 3rd, according to the Chosun Ilbo report, Samsung Electronics' Foundry business is expected to achieve 100% capacity utilization in the second half of this year, ending a long period of downturn and potentially reaching a turning point towards profitability. Currently, Samsung's Foundry capacity utilization rate is about 70%-80%, driven by the growth in demand for HBM4 base chips, large U.S. tech companies, and the increase in orders for the 2nm process, the industry is expected to achieve the full-load operation target.

Prior to this, Samsung's mature processes such as 4nm and 5nm had a long-term capacity utilization rate of less than 50%, leading to increased fixed cost pressures and continued losses. With the rebound in demand for advanced processes, especially the growth in AI and High-Performance Computing (HPC) related orders, the increase in capacity utilization will be a key factor in improving profits.

Recently, Samsung has been diversifying its customer base, with ongoing discussions for cooperation with companies such as Qualcomm, AMD, Google, and Tesla. At the same time, the yield improvement of the 2nm process remains a key variable, with the current market expecting Samsung's 2nm yield to be around 60%. Whether it can increase to above 70% in the future will determine whether large-scale orders from major customers can be realized.

Samsung expects that this year, the revenue share of advanced processes will exceed 50%, and the share of AI and HPC-related businesses will increase from about 10% in the latter half of last year to over 30%. The company also plans to advance the construction of the Taylor, Texas factory in the United States and prepare for the expansion of the 1.4nm process in the future.

Prior to this, Samsung stated at an earnings conference that the capacity utilization rates of all process nodes have improved compared to last year. Advanced processes below 8nm have nearly reached their maximum levels, and it is expected that orders for the 2nm project will more than double year-on-year. Market analysts believe that Samsung's non-memory chip business could potentially return to profit as early as the third quarter of this year, or at the latest, the fourth quarter.