Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930. KS) expects its chip and component sector to do well this year as it seeks to increase supply by improving operations in a competitive global market, according to the company’s new co-chief executive.
The chip and components business is projected to beat the worldwide chip market’s forecast yearly growth of 9%, according to a division head and new co-CEO Kyung Kye-Hyun, who did not provide further information at the annual shareholders meeting.
Kyung said the first ramp-up took time, but operations are gradually improving, in response to a shareholder inquiry about low yields for the foundry business’s cutting-edge, 5-nanometer or smaller chips.
“As the process becomes finer, the complexity increases, and processes concerning 5-nanometres or less (chips) are approaching the physical limit of semiconductor devices,” he said.
Samsung aims to improve both profitability and supply by optimising line operations and continuously improving processes already in mass production, he added.
A global tightness in chips and components supply, due to limited production capacity coupled with a boom in demand for chips used in everything from smartphones to cars, is driving investments by governments and chipmakers.
