Samsung reportedly started an R&D division for its foundry business

Samsung’s semiconductor division has been doing exceptionally well in the recent past. The division’s impressive performance is reflected clearly in the record-breaking earnings Samsung posted in the past few quarters. Last year was particularly good for Samsung with the company dethroning Intel to emerge as the largest chipmaker in the world.  While Samsung has secured the top spot in the sector, primarily due to its memory products, it has just 7.4 percent market share in the foundry space.

Samsung is currently the fourth largest player

In what can be seen as an effort to change its fortunes in the foundry market, Samsung has reportedly set up an R&D division for its foundry business. The news comes from a report which cites industry sources aware of the proceedings. Worth billions of dollars, the foundry business involves fabricating chip designs of companies who don’t have a semiconductor fabrication plant.

The Korean company is currently the fourth largest player in the global foundry business and is aiming to catch up with the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) placed at the top. The R&D division is reportedly under the device solution arm of Samsung and is focused on augmenting company’s capabilities in the foundry business. The new research unit joins memory, system LSI, semiconductor, production technology, display centers, and other research centers under the device solution wing.

“Samsung recently launched various efforts to make inroads deeper into the foundry business, also kicking off the Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem program earlier this year for foundry-related clients,” says an industry watcher in the report.