Ex-TSMC executive joins Samsung Foundry to lead US expansion

Samsung Electronics Co. has brought a former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (TSMC) executive on board to lead its North American foundry operations, ramping up efforts to bolster its loss-making contract chipmaking business in the US.

Earlier this year, Samsung Device Solutions Americas (DSA), the South Korean memory chip giant’s US semiconductor unit, appointed Margaret Han as executive vice president to head its US foundry business, according to industry sources on Monday.

Han previously served as head of Global External Foundry Sourcing and Supplier Management at Intel Corp., following a 21-year career at TSMC, where she held roles in sales, marketing and business development. She also worked at NXP Semiconductors, overseeing global procurement.

Han’s appointment comes as Samsung seeks to strengthen its position in the US foundry market by securing large foundry orders from big tech customers such as Nvidia Corp., Tesla Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.

The Korean chip company is currently constructing a $17 billion chip fabrication plant in Taylor, Texas, to boost its production capacity on US soil. The plant's production timeline has been pushed back two years to 2026.

Han is expected to leverage her two decades of experience in customer relations and sales at TSMC to support Samsung’s foundry business.

DEEP IN THE RED

Despite years of investment to crack the dominance of TSMC in the global chip foundry market, Samsung’s contract chipmaking business continues to trail its Taiwanese rival.

As of the fourth quarter of 2024, Samsung, the world’s No. 2 foundry player, had 8.2% market share, compared with TSMC’s 67.1%.

The division also posted more than 2 trillion won ($1.4 billion) in operating losses in the fourth quarter of 2024, elevating the annual loss to more than 4 trillion won.

As part of efforts to narrow the gap with TSMC, Samsung promoted Han Jin-man, executive vice president of Samsung's US semiconductor business, to president and named him to lead the company’s entire foundry business late last year.

The new Samsung foundry leader was also tasked with attracting major clients.

Samsung was the industry’s first to adopt gate-all-around (GAA) transistor technology in its 3-nanometer process, but low product yields have prevented it from securing major customers.

Its Shell-First Strategy, a custom-tailored new operation strategy, is also struggling as the chipmaker has failed to secure enough foundry clients.

But with little progress to date, Samsung is conducting a deeper review of its foundry operations, the key focus of Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s long-term growth strategy.

In a further sign of its focus on improving competitiveness, Samsung has canceled its annual Foundry Forum event this year to prioritize technology development and customer acquisition, according to the sources.

Instead, the company will explain its foundry business at the Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem (SAFE) Forum, scheduled for June 4 at Samsung DSA's US campus in San Jose, California.

Write to Eui-Myung Park at uimyung@hankyung.com

Sookyung Seo edited this article.