Korea and the United States form an alliance! Samsung and Intel reportedly collaborate to resist TSMC.

Samsung Electronics (Samsung) Chairman Lee Jae-Yong, during the visit to the U.S. with the South Korea-U.S. summit economic delegation, there are market rumors that Samsung is actively promoting strategic cooperation with Intel (Intel). The focus is not only on front-end wafer processes but also includes back-end packaging and next-generation glass substrate technology, aiming at the global wafer foundry leader TSMC (TSMC).

Lee Jae-yong visits the U.S. to strengthen investment布局 in the U.S.

According to reports from South Korean media, Samsung Electronics has invested $37 billion in a wafer foundry in Texas, USA, with the prospect of increasing its investment. Samsung is also considering collaborating with Intel to utilize Intel’s packaging production lines in the US, increasing investment in related equipment to enhance back-end processing capabilities.

The collaboration between the two companies is gaining momentum, complementing each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Semiconductor foundry is divided into two main processes: front-end ( circuit writing, chip manufacturing ), and back-end ( testing, packaging ).

Samsung: Leading Intel in the front-end process, but relatively weak in the back-end.

Intel: Has advantages in the packaging field and masters the advanced “Hybrid Bonding” technology.

Industry insiders point out that Samsung and Intel are most likely to cooperate in the packaging field, aiming to narrow the gap with TSMC through their alliance.

( Note: Hybrid Bonding refers to the bonding of “copper electrodes” between chips, allowing for faster signal transmission and lower energy consumption )

What are front-end, back-end, and glass substrates?

If we compare the chip manufacturing process to building a house, it would be:

Front-end process: build the skeleton and walls, covering the basic structure of the building. This means etching circuits on silicon wafers to create the core of the chips, which determines performance like 3 nm, 2 nm.

Backend packaging: like decorating and laying pipelines, allowing the building to be habitable and to supply water and electricity. It is about helping chips “wear a shell and connect circuits,” enabling them to be used in mobile phones, computers, or AI servers.

Glass substrate: Replace the foundation with a more stable and durable material, making the entire building more reliable and functional. Using glass instead of plastic as a base provides a smoother, heat-resistant, and faster transmission, making it particularly suitable for high-performance AI chips.

TSMC remains firmly in first place, followed by Samsung and Intel.

According to market research firm Counterpoint, the statistics for the market share of “integrated foundry” (Foundry 2.0) in Q1 of this year, focusing on “front-end wafer processing + back-end packaging testing,” show that:

TSMC: Market share 35.3%, firmly holds the global first place.

Intel: 6.5%, ranked second.

Samsung: 5.9%, only ranked fourth, behind the Taiwanese packaging factory ASE.

If we only look at the front-end process, Samsung ranks second. However, if we include the back-end packaging, Intel actually leads Samsung.

(Intel announced an official press release! Announced that the Trump administration will invest 8.9 billion dollars to create semiconductor manufacturing in the United States)

Whether the alliance between South Korea and the United States can win against TSMC remains to be seen.

Overall, if Samsung successfully forms an alliance with Intel, it will align perfectly with President Trump’s “Save Intel” policy and will amplify Samsung’s recent momentum in securing the Tesla 2-nanometer AI6 chip foundry orders. If it can leverage Intel’s technological support, the momentum to catch up with TSMC will be even stronger.

However, although the outside world speculates that the form of cooperation between the two parties may develop into a joint venture (Joint Venture), it remains to be seen whether it can affect TSMC’s market share of up to 67.6% in the global pure-play wafer foundry (Pure-play wafer foundry) market.

( Samsung secures a $16.5 billion order for Tesla chips! Musk: Personally assisting with the process )

This article discusses the alliance between South Korea and the United States! Samsung and Intel are reported to collaborate to counter TSMC, first appearing in Chain News ABMedia.