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To: Eric L who wrote (244)	9/20/2004 5:17:24 PM
From: Eric L	Respond to of 374

Samsung: Grit and Determination Connect the dots ... · Number 2 in semiconductors but week in logic, gunning for number 1 · Number 3 in handsets, could soon be number 2, wants to be number 1 · Paying out more IP than it would like to US companies like Qualcomm and TI From Samsung IR on their website: Q1. CHIP DEVELOPMENT (20 April, 2004) A1. The Company plans to strategically develop and utilize its own telecommunication chips depending on the market situation. · The Company has developed a CDMA chip and begun to use it in products. It will continue to develop and utilize its own chip in an effort to enhance its competitive edge. · The Company has been developing the GSM chip and formed strategic partnerships with chipset vendors. "From now on, the semiconductor market will grow in an IT environment centered on mobile (cellular phone) technology in a more diverse direction, without distinction between memory or non-memory semiconductors. ... For this, Samsung will concentrate its investment in the system LSI that is in the non-memory area and produce at least four of the world's top products." - Samsung President Hwang Chang-gyu - ... and people fret about fabless Nokia having the audacity to design its own CDNA and UMTS WCDMA chipsets. <g> >> Samsung Addresses the Dynamic IT Era with Total Semiconductor Solutions Seoul, Korea September 20, 2004 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today announced its new technology achievements and overall business strategy at a press conference held at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul, Korea. The new technology announcements demonstrate Samsung's potential and capability to support high performance environments. Furthermore, based on Samsung's experience in the semiconductor memory market the company approaches strategic markets in system LSI to provide the mobile and digital consumer arena with total semiconductor solutions. President of the Semiconductor business, Dr. Chang Gyu Hwang restated that, "Mobile and digital consumer applications are the new driving forces of the IT era. Through synergies created between the memory and system LSI divisions, Samsung will support the new trends with total semiconductor solutions." Dr. Hwang shared views on the future IT era and pivotal technology trend in a keynote address at ISSCC annual conference in 2001, emphasizing the change in market momentum from PC to mobile and digital consumer applications and proposing a more dynamic growth trend in technology: a double density growth in every 12 months. Samsung's technology achievements, announced today, reinforce the company's total solution strategy: -- Finest geometry 60 nanometer (nm) 8gigabit (Gb) NAND flash memory -- Highest density 2Gb DDR2 SDRAM -- Fastest speed 667MHz mobile CPU core The company adds new technology concepts such as MCP, SiP and fusion memory, merging individual features into a single package or silicon, to its well positioned memory products and stresses the importance of leveraging strategic businesses -- CMOS image sensors, optical player SOCs, smart card ICs and mobile application processors--in the system LSI division to further diversify and differentiate Samsung's competitive market position today. << About Samsung Electronics Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2003 parent company sales of US$36.4 billion and net income of US$5.0 billion. Employing approximately 88,000 people in 89 offices in 46 countries, the company consists of six main business units: Corporate Technology Operations, Digital Appliance Business, Digital Media Business, LCD Business, Semiconductor Business and Telecommunication Network Business. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is the world's largest producer of color monitors, color TVs, memory chips, TFT-LCDs and VCRs. For more information, visit www.samsung.com. >> Samsung Introduces 667MHz Mobile CPU for 3G Mobile Handheld Devices PhysOrg September 20, 2004 physorg.com Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today announced mobile CPU with speeds of 667MHz. This mobile CPU is expected to enable diverse multimedia content in 3G mobile handheld devices such as smart phones and PDAs. By introducing a structured custom design methodology at the integrated circuit design and evaluation process levels, Samsung was able to increase the speed of its mobile CPU. To further support seamless real time video images and high-density multimedia services, the mobile CPU carries up to 64Kilo Bytes of cache memory. The new technology includes all the computing characteristics of current mobile CPUs with an embedded vector floating point co-processor enabling simultaneously computing of irregular decimal points along with fixed numbers. Design engineers implementing this technology will see enhanced graphics, 3D gaming and digital audio features. Key Technology Features: · Core: ARM1020E · Core Clock: 667MHz @ 1.35V · No. of Pipelines: 6 · Structured custom methodology · Low power: 0.8 mW/MHz << - Eric -

To: Eric L who wrote (244)	10/29/2004 2:32:40 PM
From: Eric L	Respond to of 374

Samsung's New LSI Fab See also: Message 20529027 Message 20546336 >> Samsung to Build Chips for Others Korean giant set to outpace Intel on big-ticket spending Chris Kraeuter CBS.MarketWatch October 27, 2004 tinyurl.com Samsung says it will use up to half the capacity of a new factory to make chips for other companies, a significant entry into a fast-growing market that may help the Korean giant expand beyond its memory-chip business. The new factory, set to open in South Korea in mid-2005, is part of a $4.1 billion push that will vault Samsung's (SSNGY) 2004 capital spending budget past that of Intel (INTC), the world's largest chipmaker and top industry spender since 1992. "This is about trying to find some growth engines," Jon Kang, senior vice president of Samsung's chip division, told CBS MarketWatch. Samsung is shifting its spending priorities to prepare for the future of the semiconductor landscape, said Kang, who is in charge of the memory unit's strategy and development direction. Many chipmakers find the costs of building and equipping a new semiconductor factory -- which now exceed $3 billion on average -- to be prohibitive. A growing number of companies are turning to chip foundries, which mass-produce chips designed by others, to meet demand for their products. Because of its financial resources and engineering prowess, Samsung may be the ideal candidate to try and tap this market segment, said Joanne Itow, a foundry analyst with Semico Research. "I think it's evident in the way that [Samsung] pursues the memory market that when they put their mind to something, they definitely go after what they want," said Itow. Samsung has long held the top position within the market for memory chips, but those products have become low-priced commodities subject to rapid, unpredictable price swings. Yet the company's entry into the foundry business will be anything but a sure thing. For starters, the technical challenges posed by switching to a new manufacturing technology often cause snafus at big chip makers. All companies go through learning curves when entering the foundry space, Itow said, adding that the extremely small scale of the latest chip-making processes compounds the manufacturing challenge. The foundry market is also crowded with large and formidable rivals, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), United Microelectronics (UMC), Chartered Semiconductor (CHRT) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMI). IBM (IBM) and Toshiba (TOSBF) also have leading-edge foundry operations. Those companies often have tight-knit relationships with their customers, who must transfer sensitive technology in a process that requires long lead times. "The foundry market has a tendency to have customer relationships that are very loyal," Itow said. Yet Kang said the foundry business is a key to Samsung's future. The company sees itself as one of only a few today that has the scale and resources to support advanced chip manufacturing. Kang said the company will keep investing to meet this need and that its capital expenditures will approach billions of dollars for the next several years. Inside The Factory Samsung's foundry services will be housed in a new factory in Giheung, outside of Seoul, with production slated to begin late in the second quarter or early in the third quarter next year. The factory will make only logic semiconductors -- but no memory chips -- and be capable of producing 30,000 silicon wafers per month. Each wafer will have a diameter of 300 millimeters, or 12 inches. In the past, Samsung had only a limited ability to produce leading-edge logic chips -- the specialized processors that function as the brains of electronic devices. That changed significantly this year as Samsung placed more emphasis on its logic operations, known as its System LSI unit. That emphasis included Samsung setting aside about $1 billion of its capital budget for its non-memory chips, including those made in the Giheung foundry. That's a rise of more than three-fold compared to 2003. Samsung logged chip sales last year of around $10 billion with about 80 percent of that coming from its memory unit and 10 percent coming from its logic unit. The factory at first will make chips with transistor gates that are spaced 90 nanometers apart. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, and most chipmakers are currently transitioning to 90-nanometer production from 130-nanometer production. Samsung's Giheung factory will eventually move to 65-nanometer production as it seeks to cram more chips onto each wafer. Other chipmakers also have similar technology transitions planned. Kang estimated a third to a half of the factory's wafer starts would be used for foundry work. "We've had really good feedback from some leading fabless companies who are interested in working with Samsung," he said. Samsung intends to use its own capacity at the factory to make a variety of advanced logic chips including ASICs, or application specific integrated circuits, which are chips programmed with software for a specific use. << - Eric -