Samsung Electronics has quietly raised prices on new orders across its 4-nanometre, 5-nanometre and 8-nanometre foundry processes, with increases reaching 15% for customers in China and the United States, according to a Reuters report on August 19, 2026 citing two people familiar with the matter.
SF4 Line At Pyeongtaek Sold Out
Samsung's 4nm SF4 line at Pyeongtaek in South Korea has reportedly been running at full capacity since late 2025. Quotes for the SF4 process climbed 10% to 15% between June and July for customers in China and the US, while Taiwanese customers saw smaller 5% to 10% increases. Prices for the 5nm SF5 process rose 10% to 15% and the 8nm node went up by close to 10%.
Chinese chip designers, cut off from advanced tooling by US export controls, are accepting the largest hikes. Chinese orders now exceed what Samsung can take on because US customers get served first and a slice of capacity stays reserved for Samsung's own memory business.
Riding Under TSMC's Price Umbrella
Counterpoint put Samsung at 7% of global foundry revenue in Q1 2026 against more than 70% for TSMC. That gap is doing Samsung a favor on pricing: TSMC's leading-edge capacity is booked by AI orders, the market leader notified customers of 5% to 10% increases across all sub-5nm nodes starting in January, and further hikes of up to 25% are reportedly coming in 2027. Samsung is raising prices beneath that umbrella and still landing below where TSMC's quotes are headed.
A Foundry Business Chasing Profitability
Samsung's foundry division has been loss-making since 2022. Lee Min-hee, an analyst at BNK Investment & Securities, told Reuters that if Samsung keeps raising prices "its foundry business could potentially become profitable as early as next year." The customer list backing that view has grown to include Tesla's $16.5 billion AI chip contract, an Apple manufacturing deal, a Broadcom AI chip agreement and Nvidia's inference processor. The hike also lands just weeks after Meta selected Samsung Foundry's 2nm process for its MTIA accelerator.
Reporting based on coverage from Reuters, Tom's Hardware and KFGO.