According to the news, the capacity utilization rate of wafer foundries such as Samsung Electronics declined

Samsung Electronics is the world's largest memory chip manufacturer, and its wafer foundry business also occupies an important market position. According to insiders, the average operating rate of Samsung's 12-inch wafer foundry is about 70%, while the average operating rate of DB HiTek's 8-inch wafer foundry will drop to 60-70%, and the operating rate of some 8-inch wafer foundry will drop to 50%.

Samsung Electronics' OEM business income reached a new quarterly high in the fourth quarter of 2022, but the company said that due to the slowdown in global economic growth and the decline in demand caused by the inventory adjustment of major chip design enterprises, it is expected that the OEM income will decline.

The industry attributed the decline in utilization to the decline in IT demand under the global economic downturn. With the extension of the economic downturn, the demand for smart phones, personal computers, home appliances and other downstream industries has been shrinking, and the server market, which should be stable, has also weakened recently.

Recently, the capacity utilization rate of wafer foundries has generally declined, and the capacity utilization rate of Liandian has changed from the previous full load to about 70%, and it is reported that the capacity utilization rate of some production lines of some manufacturers is only 50%. Samsung frankly said that the pressure of industrial inventory adjustment in the first quarter would make the capacity utilization rate of wafer foundry business decline, and the industry was worried that Samsung might launch a price war against semiconductor manufacturers such as TSMC and Liandian.

Jeong Ki-bong, Vice President of Samsung Electronics OEM Department, said in a conference call after the fourth quarter of last year's financial report, "We expect the demand and market conditions will recover in the second half of the year, mainly HPC, data center and automobile."

Industry insiders said that in addition to considering the business and cost structure, the foundry also has government subsidy policies to meet the local production needs of customers, while maintaining a balance between supply and demand. The diversification of future products and pricing strategies are the key to the operation of the foundry.