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Thanks to IT Home reader 不一样的体验 for the tip!
IT Home reported on November 2, citing the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily, that Samsung Electronics has decided to exit the 8-inch wafer foundry business entirely. The company recently notified customers that it plans to close all related production lines by the end of 2030.
IT Home notes that Samsung Electronics had previously said only that it would gradually scale back its 8-inch production lines. This is the first time it has set out a specific timetable for leaving the business. The company then plans to concentrate its workforce and equipment investment on advanced processes using 12-inch wafers. South Korean fabless companies that have long relied on Samsung Electronics to manufacture their chips now face pressure to find alternative manufacturers urgently.
Further reading
An 8-inch wafer is a silicon wafer 200 millimeters in diameter. Its manufacturing processes are mainly at the 90-nanometer node and above, which are considered mature processes. These production lines primarily make power management chips (PMICs), display driver ICs (DDICs), CMOS image sensors, microcontrollers (MCUs), power devices, radio-frequency chips and fingerprint recognition chips, among other products. Their downstream applications span the Internet of Things, automotive electronics, industrial control and consumer electronics.
All of Samsung's 8-inch foundry capacity for external customers is concentrated at its Giheung campus in South Korea, which originally had 3 8-inch production lines: S6, S7 and S8. S7 has a monthly capacity of about 50,000 wafers and had previously been scheduled to shut down in the second half of 2026, with its orders moving to S6 and S8. Giheung's S6 covers processes from 0.13 to 0.35 micrometers and supports the manufacture of BCD devices, power devices and image sensors. S8 covers processes from 0.18 to 0.5 micrometers and specializes in optoelectronic sensors, high-voltage analog circuits and discrete devices.
Samsung's 8-inch business had been contracting even before it set an exit timetable. In early 2026, Samsung announced that it would accelerate changes to the structure of its foundry production lines and move forward with the S7 shutdown. At that point, its monthly 8-inch wafer capacity would fall from about 250,000 wafers to below 200,000, while the overall operating rate of its 8-inch lines was about 70%. As core products such as CMOS image sensors and display driver chips gradually move to 12-inch lines, the 8-inch lines face pressure from lost orders, high maintenance costs and a limited customer base.
South Korean fabless companies that have long contracted Samsung for foundry services face pressure to find alternative capacity. South Korean 8-inch pure-play foundry DB HiTek is seen as one potential alternative; its capacity had previously been completely booked, with a substantial order backlog. In addition, DB HiTek began multi-project wafer runs for silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) processes in December 2025 and plans to begin mass production in 2027. It is also expanding the cleanroom at its Sangwoo campus in North Chungcheong Province, raising monthly capacity from 154,000 to 190,000 8-inch wafers.
Samsung is not the only manufacturer cutting 8-inch capacity. TSMC has been reducing related capacity since 2023, and some plants plan to exit the market in stages. TrendForce data shows that total global 8-inch fab capacity is expected to decline 2.4% year on year in 2026.
Notably, demand remains strong even as capacity contracts. Driven by demand for AI servers, demand is growing for mature-process products such as power management ICs, analog chips and power devices. TrendForce forecasts that the average operating rate of global 8-inch fabs will rise to 85% to 90% in 2026, and some foundries plan to raise foundry prices by 5% to 20%. Global mature-process foundry capacity utilization climbed to 91% in the third quarter of 2026, and industry estimates suggest that prices for 8-inch and 12-inch mature-process foundry services will rise 4% to 8% quarter on quarter in the first quarter of the following year.
After exiting 8-inch foundry services, Samsung plans to concentrate its workforce and equipment investment on advanced processes using 12-inch wafers. Its advanced 12-inch production lines are mainly located in Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek, covering 7nm, 4nm and 3nm processes, as well as a 2nm GAA process that is ramping up. According to estimates by analysts, Samsung's non-memory business will see its annual operating loss narrow from 6.74 trillion won in 2025 (IT Home note: about 33.579 billion yuan at the current exchange rate) to about 3.92 trillion won in 2026 (about 19.529 billion yuan at the current exchange rate). Higher utilization of advanced processes at 8nm and below, driven by HBM4, is one of the main reasons for the improvement in its foundry business.