Samsung Electronics has increased prices for some advanced contract chipmaking services by as much as 15 percent, capitalizing on surging artificial intelligence chip demand and tight foundry capacity at market leader TSMC.
The price increases apply to new orders and signal improving pricing power for Samsung’s foundry business, which has been loss-making since 2022, Reuters news report said. Strong demand from Chinese and U.S. semiconductor customers, rising AI and high-performance computing requirements and capacity constraints across advanced manufacturing nodes are strengthening Samsung’s position in the global foundry market.
Samsung SF4 Chip Prices Rise 10-15 Percent
Samsung raised prices in July 2026 for chips manufactured using its 4-nanometre SF4 process.
Customers in China and the United States faced price increases of 10 percent to 15 percent compared with the previous month. Customers in Taiwan, where TSMC is headquartered, saw smaller increases ranging from 5 percent to 10 percent.
Chinese semiconductor companies have been particularly active in seeking Samsung’s manufacturing capacity. However, Samsung has been unable to satisfy all orders because it also needs capacity for U.S. customers and its own semiconductor production.
U.S. restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China have increased Chinese chip companies’ reliance on overseas foundries, strengthening demand for Samsung’s manufacturing services.
Samsung Raises SF5 and 8nm Foundry Prices
Pricing increases extend beyond Samsung’s 4nm technology.
Wafer prices for Samsung’s 5-nanometre SF5 process increased between 10 percent and 15 percent, while prices for its older 8-nanometre manufacturing technology rose by nearly 10 percent.
The increases indicate that stronger semiconductor demand is spreading across multiple manufacturing technologies rather than remaining limited to the most advanced AI processors.
Samsung Holds 7 Percent Foundry Market Share vs TSMC Above 70 Percent
Samsung still faces a substantial market-share gap with TSMC. Samsung generated about 7 percent of global foundry revenue during the first quarter of 2026, compared with more than 70 percent for TSMC, according to Counterpoint data cited by Reuters.
However, TSMC’s leading-edge manufacturing capacity has become increasingly constrained as AI chip companies compete for production.
The capacity shortage gives Samsung an opportunity to attract customers seeking alternatives to TSMC and improve utilization at its semiconductor factories. Intel is also positioned to benefit as chip designers look for additional manufacturing capacity.
AI and HPC Could Exceed 30 Percent of Samsung Foundry Revenue
Samsung expects advanced manufacturing processes to generate more than half of its foundry revenue in 2026.
AI and high-performance computing applications are projected to contribute more than 30 percent of foundry revenue this year, a substantial increase from 15 percent to 20 percent in late 2025.
The shift illustrates how AI infrastructure investment is changing Samsung’s foundry revenue mix, increasing the importance of advanced logic chips, AI processors and components supporting high-bandwidth memory.
Samsung expects rising sales to major U.S. and Chinese customers, combined with demand for HBM base dies, to increase foundry revenue by more than a double-digit percentage in the second half of 2026 compared with a year earlier.
Samsung Pyeongtaek SF4 Production Reaches Full Capacity
Samsung’s SF4 production line at its Pyeongtaek plant in South Korea has operated at full capacity since late 2025, reflecting the strength of demand.
The manufacturing line produces logic chips for customers including Qualcomm and base dies used in Samsung’s own multilayer high-bandwidth memory chips.
Higher factory utilization, improving production yields and stronger pricing could significantly improve the economics of Samsung’s foundry operations.
Samsung said in July that it expects the foundry business to return to profitability in the near future. An analyst cited by Reuters said higher pricing could potentially enable the division to become profitable as early as 2027.
Tesla, Apple, Broadcom and Nvidia Expand Samsung Chip Opportunities
Samsung’s improving production yields and available advanced capacity have helped the company secure business from major technology companies.
Tesla and Apple announced chip manufacturing agreements with Samsung in 2025, strengthening Samsung’s position with major U.S. customers.
Samsung announced an AI chip manufacturing deal with Broadcom in July 2026, while Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in March 2026 that Samsung would manufacture Nvidia’s new AI inference processor.
Google is also in discussions with Samsung about manufacturing chips using the company’s SF4 4nm process, according to Reuters.
AI Chip Boom Creates Turnaround Opportunity for Samsung Foundry
Samsung’s price increases of up to 15 percent represent more than a response to higher semiconductor demand. They indicate that tightening advanced-node capacity is changing competitive dynamics in a foundry market overwhelmingly dominated by TSMC.
With Samsung controlling only 7 percent of global foundry revenue in Q1 2026 against TSMC’s more than 70 percent, closing the market-share gap remains a major challenge. But advanced processes accounting for more than 50 percent of Samsung foundry revenue and AI and HPC exceeding 30 percent could improve both its revenue mix and profitability.
The combination of full SF4 capacity, higher wafer prices, improving yields and expanding relationships with Qualcomm, Tesla, Apple, Broadcom, Nvidia and potentially Google could make the global AI infrastructure boom an important catalyst for Samsung’s long-running effort to build a stronger alternative to TSMC.
BABURAJAN KIZHAKEDATH
