TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An executive at Samsung, Kyung Kye-Hyun (慶桂顯), gave a special lecture at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Daejon, South Korea, on Thursday (May 4) and discussed his company’s hopes to catch up with industry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC).

According to Tech Bang, Samsung wants to overtake its rival TSMC in global semiconductor production within five years. On that same timeline, Kyung said that Samsung is investing in building a “memory-centric” supercomputer unlike any other that exists in the world, that they hope will be ready in 2028.



Kyung conceded that Samsung lags behind TSMC in computational processing power. However, the company has fast tracked research and development into what will be comparable to TSMC's 4 nanometer processing node.

Kyung expressed confidence Samsung will reach parity with TSMC on producing 4-nm nodes within two years.

Beyond that, Kyung discussed the next stage of the processing technology, which will involve the use of Gate-All-Around (GAA) technology to develop, and then mass produce, Samsung’s 3nm nodes.

These GAA-based nodes will be fundamentally different from TSMC’s product, as TSMC’s nodes are developed through a process involving fin field-effect transfer (FinFET) technology. However, TSMC is also planning on using GAA for future nodes. Kyung said that since Samsung is rushing development of 3-nm technology using GAA, he believes Samsung can overtake TSMC in production of 3-nm chips within a year.

By pioneering the GAA method for semiconductor production, Kyung believes that Samsung can even the playing field as both companies pursue the development 2-nm processing technology.

While speaking about the impact of the trade conflict between the U.S. and China on Samsung, Kyoung said “While approval is required for investment in our Chinese plants in Xian, there has not been significant pressure on our overall business,” reported the Investor.



According to reports, Samsung’s factory in Xian is responsible for approximately 40% of the company’s global NAND flash production. The company also operates a facility in Suzhou that packages semiconductors into various appliances and computing products.

In October 2022, Samsung received a one-year exemption from the U.S. government from sanctions targeting companies that cooperate with China to manufacture advanced computing chips and related equipment, reported Reuters. The company successfully persuaded Washington that its facilities in China are necessary to maintain its chipmaking industry.

It is unclear if the Biden administration will keep the exemption in place through 2024.