Samsung Electronics’ chipmaking division, Samsung Foundry, has experienced a challenging period over the past few years, losing major clients like Nvidia and Qualcomm to competitor TSMC. However, the tide seems to be turning for the company after securing a substantial $16.5 billion chip manufacturing contract with Tesla earlier this year. Reports indicate that Samsung Foundry achieved its first monthly profit in three years as of June 2026. This positive shift is attributed to a significant increase in the utilization of its 4nm process, driven by enhanced production of HBM base dies and improved manufacturing yields. These base dies are crucial components in HBM packages, facilitating communication between HBM memory and GPUs, and are manufactured for Samsung’s memory division. This division supplies HBM chips to tech giants like AMD, Google, and Nvidia for AI hardware applications. Previously, Samsung Foundry faced challenges due to low yields on advanced process nodes, customer migration to TSMC, and underutilized fabrication facilities. Despite not disclosing separate financial results for its foundry business, analysts estimated combined operating losses for the Foundry and System LSI divisions at KRW 2.5 trillion in 2023, KRW 5.3 trillion in 2024, and KRW 6 trillion in 2025. Samsung Foundry’s prospects could further improve if it secures potential contracts with AI companies such as Anthropic and Meta.
Has Samsung’s chipmaking division returned to profitability after three years?
