Samsung Foundry plans to pay for top sales talent to take business away from TSMC
To generate a consistent flow of orders to its U.S. fabs, Samsung is paying high salaries for sales executives.
TSMC is the world's largest foundry with a market share in the 65%-67% range. Samsung Foundry is a distant second thanks to the low yields it has achieved on advanced chip production. This makes it more costly for Samsung's customers to use the foundry instead of TSMC since low yields mean fewer chips can be produced at the same price. This is the exact reason why Qualcomm dropped Samsung Foundry in 2022. At the time, Samsung Foundry was manufacturing the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and reportedly had a 35% yield. TSMC's 4nm yield rate was 70% at the time.
Samsung Foundry's yield issues led Qualcomm to move from Samsung to TSMC
As a result, Qualcomm picked up all of its marbles from Samsung's playground and moved them to TSMC. The latter built the slightly reconfigured Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and has manufactured all of Qualcomm's flagship Snapdragon application processors since then. There is no denying that the Taiwan-based chip foundry has a star-studded list of clients that are among the top names in tech including Apple, AMD, Nvidia, MediaTek, Qualcomm, and more.
Thanks to Samsung Foundry's poor yields, Qualcomm switched to TSMC to make the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. | Image credit-PhoneArena
Samsung Foundry might catch a break if it can improve yields on the production of Samsung's own Exynos 2600 application processor which will be built on the foundry's 2nm process node. If Samsung Foundry can get its yield up enough to ensure the production of the number of chips Samsung needs, the Exynos 2600 will power the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+ in most markets and those models will become the first smartphones to feature a 2nm application processor.
Usually, the iPhone has been the device that welcomed the next cutting-edge process node. But next year, if Samsung plays its cards right, this honor will belong to the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+. Ironically, the Galaxy S26 Ultra, the top-of-the-line model, will be powered by a 3nm Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 for Galaxy and won't be involved in any record-breaking historical moments.
Samsung has been supposedly looking to spin off or sell its Foundry. Until a deal can be made to its liking, Samsung hopes to generate more revenue for the unit by trying to convince TSMC's customers to make the switch to Samsung Foundry. The latter hired away a former TSMC sales executive earlier this year and a report out of Korea states that Samsung is willing to pay as much as $300,000 to pros looking to join Samsung Foundry's sales team in the U.S.
TSMC has started mass production of 4nm chips from its Arizona fab
Both Samsung and TSMC have built U.S. fabs and TSMC has started producing 4nm chips in Arizona and will build 2nm components in 2028. Samsung's timeline has it ahead of TSMC in the States. In Taylor, Texas, Samsung Foundry will mass produce 2nm chips in 2026. Samsung needs a strong order flow to keep the Taylor, Texas line humming, churning out advanced chips. That is why Samsung Foundry will pay California-based salesmen as much as $300,000.
A foundry sales director can earn as much as $319,800 and a senior manager inside a foundry's customer service unit, can draw a salary within the $180,950 to $289,050 range. The salaries Samsung is willing to pay in the U.S. top what it is paying for the same jobs in South Korea.
The new hires will have the task of increasing Samsung Foundry's market share in the United States. Some of TSMC's customers in Taiwan will also take delivery of chips built in the U.S. including Apple, AMD, Nvidia, and Qualcomm. TSMC is already shipping 4nm chips from its Arizona fab to Apple and Nvidia. Semiconductors built in Arizona will not face any tariffs which is part of the appeal of purchasing domestically manufactured chips.
Depending on which report you read, the third largest foundry globally is China's SMIC. The latter manufactures the chips designed by Huawei and is the largest foundry in the country.
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