The appointment of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States meant that China would have to buckle up for a wave of trade sanctions. Just recently, it was reported that the U.S. authorities ordered TSMC to suspend 7nm and below chip shipments to companies located overseas, notifying customers through email that its customers will no longer receive any batch going forward. The exact order has reportedly been given to Samsung, with the latter likely following TSMC’s route.
Samsung is already in a tough spot as far as its foundry business goes, and being forced to suspend chip shipments to Chinese customers will deal another blow
It was reported by Economic Daily News that Samsung has already notified its customers regarding the recent ban, but the Korean giant has refused to comment on the latest development. Even with TSMC no longer on the supply chain for various Chinese clients, there was still some solace for these companies, knowing that Samsung existed as an alternative, but even that option has been severed.
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The latest U.S. order could not come at a worse time for the foundry behemoth, as it has been struggling to increase the yields of its first and second-generation 3nm GAA process. The lack of progress was a major reason why Samsung failed to secure any lucrative clients for its advanced nodes. To add insult to injury, even the local players that previously placed orders for the more mature nodes have given preference to TSMC.
The report does not specify the magnitude of the loss that Samsung has to bear to remove Chinese customers from its list altogether, but the U.S. might have successfully achieved its goal of severely limiting options for overseas entities. The only path carved out for these companies is placing orders with SMIC, China’s largest semiconductor firm, for its 7nm node.
Unfortunately, the reliance on older DUV equipment instead of cutting-edge EUV machinery means SMIC cannot produce wafers on a larger scale and will likely only cater to a few customers, with Huawei being one of them. Both Huawei and SMIC were previously reported to have successfully developed the 5nm process, but there is no word on which products will employ this technology.
On a positive note, these trade sanctions could give China the much-needed motivation to introduce countermeasures that limit its dependency on foreign companies that are under the influence of the U.S. Sure, it will take several years before this goal is realized, but it is better to start at some point.
News Source: Economic Daily News