Samsung Foundry achieved significant improvements in its chip manufacturing processes over the course of 2019, new industry data reveals. In layman's terms, the company did more with less, upping in its efficiency rates by approximately 40%.
It did so by refining its production techniques instead of aggressive investments seeing how its costs either stagnated or even declined in 2019.
Samsung Foundry now doing more with less
Looking at the latest data points coming out of South Korea, Samsung spent the equivalent of over $1.5 billion on wafer components in 2019, 11% more compared to 2018. Accounting for currency fluctutations and the 12% annual increase in wafer costs, that tidbit reveals the company's wafer input was mostly unchanged over those two years. Yet its output rose quite sharply over the observed period, going from 711 billion Gb in 2018 to 889 billion Gb last year. At the same time, Samsung continued reducing its industry investments as its semiconductor expenses amounted to approximately $14 billion in 2019, 5% down year-over-year.
Overall, these are some rather obvious signs of a maturing business that's now quite capable of consistently improving its profit margins. Moving forward, Samsung is turning toward artificial intelligence in hopes of maintaining that momentum. Earlier this year, the company created a new AI division primarily focused on upping its semiconductor yields, industry sources revealed.
