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三星,陷入困局
半导体行业观察·2025-04-13 03:45

Core Viewpoint - Samsung is facing significant challenges in both its semiconductor and foundry businesses, struggling with technology leadership and market share against competitors like SK Hynix and TSMC [1][11][20]. Semiconductor Industry Challenges - Samsung has lost its long-standing leadership in the DRAM market to SK Hynix, which captured 36% of the global DRAM market share in Q1 2023, surpassing Samsung's 34% [3][5]. - The company's HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) products are facing issues with power consumption and stability, preventing them from entering the mainstream market, while SK Hynix dominates this segment with a 70% market share [3][5]. - Samsung's technology advantage in DRAM is eroding, with SK Hynix recently developing the sixth generation of DDR5 DRAM, further challenging Samsung's position [7][8]. Foundry Market Issues - Samsung's 3nm process technology has been plagued by low yield rates of only 10%-20%, leading major clients like Qualcomm and Nvidia to shift their orders to TSMC [9][20]. - The company's foundry market share has drastically decreased from 20% in 2021 to an estimated 9.3% by Q3 2024, with projected losses of 4 trillion KRW in 2024 and 5 trillion KRW in 2025 [9][20]. Strategic Shift and Financial Focus - Since around 2015, Samsung has shifted its focus towards financial performance, prioritizing shareholder returns over long-term technological investments, which has contributed to its current struggles [12][14]. - The company has significantly increased its shareholder returns, with dividends rising from 5-9% of net profits in 2010-2013 to over 30% in recent years, impacting its R&D and capital investment [15][16]. Future Directions - Samsung is attempting to refocus on its HBM business by reallocating resources and personnel from its foundry division to enhance competitiveness in memory products [20]. - The company is also initiating the development of 1nm process technology, although there are concerns about the feasibility of its existing roadmap, including the potential cancellation of the 1.4nm process due to technical challenges [21].