Samsung Raises Advanced Chipmaking Prices by Up to 15% Amid AI Capacity Crunch

Samsung has raised contract chipmaking fees by as much as 15 percent for new orders following a surge in demand for artificial intelligence hardware, according to details first reported by Reuters and cited by The Next Web. The price adjustments, which took effect in July, signal how severe capacity constraints at market leader TSMC are allowing rival foundries to gain pricing power in advanced semiconductor manufacturing.

The price hikes are concentrated heavily on Samsung's core 4-nanometer node, designated as SF4, which is widely used by developers of AI logic processors. Customers based in China and the United States saw monthly price increases between 10 and 15 percent for SF4 wafer production, while clients in Taiwan received smaller hikes of 5 to 10 percent. Additionally, production on Samsung's 5-nanometer SF5 node rose between 10 and 15 percent, while prices for its legacy 8-nanometer process increased by nearly 10 percent.

Demand from mainland Chinese tech firms has been especially strong, though Samsung has been unable to fulfill all incoming orders. The South Korean manufacturer must balance international requests with commitments to U.S. commercial clients while reserving domestic capacity for its own hardware production. Stricter U.S. trade policy and equipment export bans have left Chinese hardware designers with few leading-edge options, forcing them to accept higher contract pricing at overseas foundries.

Samsung's contract manufacturing division has operated at a loss since 2022, struggling to close the market share gap with TSMC despite record overall profits driven by its high-bandwidth memory business. Data from research firm Counterpoint shows TSMC captured over 70 percent of global foundry revenue in the first quarter of 2026, compared to Samsung's 7 percent share. However, with TSMC's advanced production capacity largely booked solid, customers are turning to Samsung to secure needed output.

Industry analysts view the pricing moves as a potential turning point for Samsung's foundry operations. BNK Investment & Securities analyst Lee Min-hee noted that as TSMC faces supply bottlenecks and elevates its own rates, clients are migrating orders toward alternatives like Samsung and Intel. Lee projected that sustained pricing strength could allow Samsung's contract manufacturing division to achieve profitability as early as next year.

Production lines at Samsung's primary manufacturing hub reflect this heightened operational pace. The company's SF4 manufacturing line at its Pyeongtaek facility in South Korea has operated at full capacity since late last year. The facility produces logic chips for key customers such as Qualcomm, alongside essential base dies used in Samsung's high-bandwidth memory (HBM) stacks designed for AI training and inference processors.

To capture further growth, Samsung expects advanced process nodes to account for more than half of its total foundry revenue this year. The company forecasts that high-performance computing and AI orders will represent over 30 percent of foundry revenue, up from 15 to 20 percent in late 2025. Executive guidance provided in July anticipated that higher factory utilization, improved yields, and firmer pricing will expand second-half foundry revenues by more than a double-digit percentage year over year.

A expanding portfolio of major client wins has strengthened Samsung's market positioning. Following manufacturing deals signed with Tesla and Apple last year, Samsung secured an AI chip contract with Broadcom in July. Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang confirmed in March that Samsung would produce the graphics giant's new AI inference processor, while Google is currently in discussions to manufacture chips on the SF4 node. Samsung declined to comment on commercial pricing or specific customer agreements.