AI computing power demand explodes! Samsung raises chip foundry prices: up to 15% increase.

According to Cailianshe reports, driven by the sustained surge in global AI computing chip demand, advanced process foundry capacity has become increasingly tight. Samsung Electronics has raised wafer foundry quotes for newly signed orders, with some process nodes seeing increases of up to 15%.

The price adjustment took effect in July and applies only to new orders; existing long-term contracts already signed will not be affected by this price change.

In terms of specific process nodes, the 4nm SF4 process foundry price has been raised by 10%-15%, the 5nm SF5 process has also increased by 10%-15%, and the mature 8nm process foundry quote has risen by nearly 10%.

Samsung's 4nm production line in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, has been running at full capacity since late last year. This line handles both external customer logic chip orders and production of base chips for its own HBM high-bandwidth memory, leaving capacity resources extremely strained.

At the industry level, TSMC's advanced process capacity remains saturated, with a large volume of AI and high-performance computing orders spilling over, giving Samsung's foundry business more customers and pricing leverage. Samsung's wafer foundry division had long been loss-making, and this round of price hikes is seen as a key signal of business improvement.

According to Samsung's internal forecasts, advanced process revenue will account for over 50% of total wafer foundry revenue by 2026, with AI and high-performance computing-related business exceeding 30%, a significant increase from the 15%-20% share expected at the end of 2025.

The simultaneous price hikes by leading foundries will also transmit downstream, raising manufacturing costs for AI accelerator chips, mobile SoCs, and automotive-grade chips, potentially putting upward pressure on component costs for end-device manufacturers.