[MK위클리반도체] The company that surprised the semiconductor industry this week the most is Intel. Intel, which had disappeared from the semiconductor market for a while, has come back proudly with the ‘absolute’ ASML hand. As Intel participates in the semiconductor foundry market, which was divided between Taiwanese TSMC and Samsung Electronics, it is expected that the global competition for the Three Kingdoms will be formed.
Intel is the first among the three semiconductor companies to introduce next-generation semiconductor equipment from ASML in the Netherlands. Our goal is to be the first to advance into the next-generation 2nm process beyond TSMC and Samsung Electronics. As a result, TSMC, the No. 1 player in the industry, is increasing its investment this year by more than a third compared to the previous year. Samsung Electronics, who dreams of a new future in the foundry, also set a counter-fire by announcing an investment plan of more than 40 trillion won this year.
Concept diagram of the next EUV equipment introduced by ASML to Intel / Photo = ASMLIntel announced on the 19th (local time) that it had signed a contract to introduce ASML’s next-generation extreme ultraviolet exposure equipment for the Intel 1.8-nano process to be applied from 2025. Intel plans to start production on the 2-nano process from 2024. ASML also contributed to the collaboration with Intel by announcing the same plan in its earnings announcement on the same day. It is extremely unusual for ASML to directly disclose customer information. This means that we will strengthen our collaboration with Intel into a partnership beyond a simple one-time contract.
The market was very surprised that ASML, which had exclusively supplied extreme ultraviolet exposure equipment, decided to supply the latest 2nm equipment to Intel, not TSMC or Samsung Electronics, the top two places. In addition, Intel is known to announce the construction of a new semiconductor plant near Columbus, the capital of Ohio. This year’s investment amounted to $20 billion (about 24 trillion won).
Intel, which withdrew from the foundry business four years ago, heralded a revival last year. It declared large-scale investment while declaring re-entry into the foundry business. Intel announced that it would invest a total of $100 billion to build semiconductor factories in the United States and Europe. Intel is already building two foundry lines in Chandler, Arizona, USA.
The will of TSMC, the No. 1 operator, is also strong. TSMC recently announced at the fourth quarter of last year’s earnings announcement, “To expand semiconductor production capacity, we plan to increase our facility investment by more than a third this year compared to last year. TSMC plans to use most of its investment to develop 3nm and 2nm technologies, which are next-generation processes. TSMC also raised its annual revenue growth forecast for the next several years to 15-20% from 10-15%, and raised its long-term gross profit target to more than 53% from more than 50%.
“The company is entering a period of structurally high growth,” said Wei Zhiza, TSMC’s CEO. He expressed confidence that “even if the semiconductor price is adjusted, the impact on TSMC will not be significant considering its status as a leading foundry company and the expected structural demand growth that will continue for many years.”
Samsung Electronics, which dreams of becoming the world’s number one in the foundry sector following memory, is also spurring the ‘war of money’. Samsung Electronics’ new Taylor semiconductor plant in the US will start construction in the first half of this year and will be operational in the second half of 2024. The estimated investment in construction and facilities is $17 billion. Advanced foundry process will be applied to this new production line. The industry expects Samsung Electronics to invest more than 40 trillion won in the semiconductor sector this year. An official from the semiconductor industry said, “Considering the investment scale of competing companies, it is known that they are considering raising the investment amount to 45 trillion won or more.”
For Samsung Electronics, this year’s foundry is an important year that can determine the direction of the next 10 years. This is because the world’s first 3-nano process will be introduced in the first half of this year. In the second half of this year, we started to take the lead in technology development for the first time compared to TSMC, which announced the introduction of 3nm. Driven by this momentum, we set a bold goal to shake the current market, which is the dominant TSMC. According to TrendForce, a market research firm, as of the third quarter of last year, TSMC maintained the top position with 53.1% of the global foundry market share, and Samsung Electronics maintained its second position with 17.1%.
In the fiercely fierce foundry era of the Spring and Autumn Warring States era, the key variable is how quickly the ‘absolute weapon’ ASML will secure its equipment. According to DigiTimes, a Taiwanese information technology (IT) media, Samsung Electronics is planning to introduce 18 additional ASML equipment this year. As of July last year, Samsung Electronics is known to have 25 EUV equipment. If you add up the number of EUV equipment that Samsung Electronics will introduce this year, it is estimated that Samsung Electronics’ holdings will be at the level of 60% of TSMC’s. ASML plans to expand its equipment production to 55 units this year and to 60 units in 2023. In addition to the planned 18 units, the share of foundries is expected to change in the era of 3nm or less new processes depending on how much more extreme UV exposure equipment Samsung Electronics will secure ahead of TSMC or Intel.
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