California-based AMD growth raises hopes for Samsung foundry rebound

May 6 (Asia Today) -- Samsung Electronics may gain momentum in its struggling foundry business as AMD's stronger earnings and supply chain diversification by global tech firms raise expectations for new chip orders.

AMD reported Tuesday that first-quarter revenue reached $10.3 billion, with operating profit rising 83% from a year earlier to $1.48 billion, helped by growing demand for AI data center products.

The results suggest AI infrastructure demand is expanding beyond graphics processors to include server CPUs, a shift analysts say could benefit Samsung across high-bandwidth memory, general-purpose DDR memory and foundry production.

Attention is focused on whether Samsung could win contract manufacturing work for next-generation AMD EPYC server processors. Samsung is working to stabilize yields for its 2-nanometer process, which could become a key factor in securing advanced chip orders.

AMD Chief Executive Lisa Su visited South Korea in March and discussed broad cooperation with Samsung, including memory and foundry production.

Samsung is also being mentioned as a possible partner for Apple as the company reviews semiconductor supply chain diversification. Apple reportedly visited Samsung's foundry plant under construction in Taylor, Texas.

Tesla has also considered diversifying some autonomous driving chip production, raising expectations that Samsung could expand orders from high-performance computing, automotive AI, robotics and autonomous driving customers.

Industry officials caution Samsung is likely to play a supplementary role in the near term because mass production stability and yield remain critical. Samsung plans to begin operating its Taylor plant in 2026, start mass production in 2027 and gradually expand 2-nanometer output.

Samsung's fourth-generation 4-nanometer process has already been used in AI chip production, including Groq's language processing units. DigiTimes recently reported Samsung's 4-nanometer yield has exceeded 80%.

"If the 2-nanometer process stabilizes to a certain level, Samsung will be in a position to compete with TSMC," said Lee Jong-hwan, a semiconductor engineering professor at Sangmyung University.

Analysts say next year could mark a turnaround point for Samsung's foundry business, though labor risk remains a concern. DigiTimes said a Samsung union strike could disrupt memory production for up to a month, potentially worsening shortages of high-bandwidth memory and affecting foundry and advanced packaging operations.

Kim Jung-hwan, head of the Next-Generation Intelligent Semiconductor Project and professor emeritus at Seoul National University, said Samsung's foundry business has a strong chance of returning to profit next year, supported by Taylor plant capacity and potential large-scale orders.

-- Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260506010001070

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This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 7:21 PM.