business profile

SAMSUNG's Semiconductor Business was founded in Korea with the acquisition of Hankook Semiconductor in 1974. Early operations consisted mostly of the development and mass production of ICs and peripherals for such consumer electronics products as electronic and analogue watches, televisions, audios and microwave ovens. The main turning point in SAMSUNG's evolution into a leading semiconductor manufacturer was the successful development of the 64Kb DRAM in 1983, and the subsequent opening of the Giheung Semiconductor Complex and SAMSUNG first's fabrication facility in 1984. In 1991, SAMSUNG's LCD business operations were joined with its Semiconductor Business.

Through a strategy of aggressive growth, SAMSUNG achieved and has held market leadership in DRAM and SRAM since the early 1990s, and in NAND Flash since 2003. In 2001, SAMSUNG also signaled its long commitment to logic and analog chip development with the expansion of the System LSI Division and the opening of the SoC Research Lab. In 2004, SAMSUNG's Hard Disk Drive Division was joined with SAMSUNG's Semiconductor Business, following a major restructuring at SAMSUNG Electronics in Korea that grouped all key products of a similar nature or function into major businesses. It was also in 2004 that the LCD Division was split off from SAMSUNG's Semiconductor Business to become a major independent business (LCD Business) in SAMSUNG Electronics' parent company organizational structure.

fact sheet

The Semiconductor Business of SAMSUNG Electronics, based in Giheung, Korea, consists of three major divisions: Memory, System LSI and Storage. It has pioneered the development of numerous advancements in chip technology that are now widely used in mobile, desktop and other digital products.

The Memory Division designs and manufactures integrated circuits for storing digital information. Steadfastly maintaining the top global position in the growing DRAM market since 1992, SAMSUNG Electronics has also stayed in front technologically with NAND flash memory by developing the world's first 32Gb NAND memory chip. In addition, SAMSUNG was the first to apply 80nm design technology to the mass production of 512Mb DDR2 DRAM. The company is set to increase sales of high-capacity DRAM devices using 90nm and 80nm processing, and further market penetration of NAND flash memory using 60nm processing.

SAMSUNG has also achieved steady sales growth and profitability by being the first to introduce such differentiated products for mobile devices and game consoles as graphics DRAM, the proprietary OneNAND™ (flash memory combining NOR's fast reading capability with NAND's capacity and fast writing), and distinctive MCPs (multi-chip packages).

SAMSUNG is also a pioneer in the development of Solid State Drives (SSDs). The flash-SSD, a drop-in replacement for a hard disk drive, is a secure and reliable means of storing personal or work-related data. Samsung first released the 32GB PATA SSD in March 2006, followed by the first 64GB SATA II SSD in November 2007 and the 128GB MLC-based SSD in January of 2008. Samsung is aggressively expanding market development efforts for its SSDs, and its rapid SSD technology advancements are a result of efficiencies enabled by the company's unique combination of NAND flash memory, firmware and controller technology for flash management.

The System LSI Division designs and manufactures logic and analog integrated circuit devices that process user applications. The division consists of 3 major areas of business concentration - mobile solutions, home & media solutions, and ASIC & foundry solutions. Since 2001, the System LSI Division has had on average a yearly increase in sales of 17%. The System LSI Division has held number one market share in Display Driver Interface (DDI) since 2002, and reached number one market share in SIM Card, MP3P and Navigational AP in 2006. System LSI also made a strong showing in CMOS image sensor (CIS) in 2006 capturing 19% of the market share. The System LSI Division will continue to focus efforts on developing and marketing premium products in its five strategic products areas - DDI, CIS, mobile application processor, chip card IC, and media player IC - with the ultimate goal of holding leading market positions in each of these business areas.

The Storage Division designs and manufactures hard drives aimed at both the personal computing industry and the mobile environment. The business was originally launched in 1988 and was joined with SAMSUNG's Semiconductor Business in 2004. The Storage Division's hard drive line up offers an extensive range of capacities, from 2.5" and 3.5" drives for notebook PCs, desktop PCs and consumer electronics, to the new 1.8" drive for personal media players, cell phones, PDAs, navigators, Mp3s and other mobile applications

The Semiconductor Business has 15 front-end production facilities around the world. Semiconductor fabs are located in Gieheung and Hwaseong, Korea (nearby Seoul), and in Austin, Texas. The company also operates 10 IC assembly plants in Onyang, Korea and Suzhou, China and 5 R&D lines in Giheung. A key benefit of SAMSUNG's semiconductor strategy is the flexibility to shift production between production facilities in anticipation of changing market demands. This helps insulate SAMSUNG from market dynamics and stabilize operating margins.

SAMSUNG also operates state-of-the-art Class-10 hard-drive facilities and logistic centers in Gumi, Korea and Manaus, Brazil. The Gumi plant produces at the highest quality levels with automation that enables rapid adaptations to future technologies.

Investment in R&D and production facilities continues to be a high priority today and will continue to be so in the future. Of the total work force of over 35,000 employees based in Korea, over 31% have work duties dedicated to research and development. The Semiconductor Business also operates research centers in San Jose, Suzhou (China), Yokohama and Bangalore, and employees over 130 engineers from 14 countries in Korea. In 2006, SAMSUNG Electronics as a whole invested US$6.01 billion in R&D - more than 9 percent of its annual sales. The Semiconductor Business alone invested approximately US$2.5 billion in R&D, or 41.6 percent of SAMSUNG Electronics' total R&D expenditures. As a result, the Semiconductor Business applied for 2,307 patents in the same year, making it one of the five most prolific semiconductor manufacturers applying for patents worldwide.

The President of SAMSUNG's Semiconductor Business, Dr. Chang-Gyu Hwang, has identified a new "Fusion Era" that will profoundly affect the semiconductor industry and its numerous areas of application. Fusion technology for the semiconductor industry signifies the continual development of smaller and higher-density solutions with multiple functions on one chip, which offer multi-faceted solutions that stretch across many industry segments. SAMSUNG has been leading the industry in fusion technology with the development its OneNAND™ and OneDRAM™ fusion memory solutions. Dr. Hwang predicts that in the future, semiconductor technology will be ubiquitous to a significantly greater degree than previously thought possible: in biotechnology, healthcare, robotics, aviation, the capturing of solar energy and in many more areas related to the research and development in eco-friendly technologies.

DRAM with 80nm Process Technology : SAMSUNG Electronics became the first to apply the 90nm design rule to DRAM mass production in 2004 and was again first with 80nm processing in 2006, thereby continuing its industry leadership in DRAM-related nano-technology. Use of the 80nm design rule results in 50% higher productivity over 90nm processing, while keeping additional facilities investment to a minimum. This production efficiency is expected to give SAMSUNG leadership position in the production of next-generation DRAM (DDR3) as well.

OneDRAM™, a Fusion Memory Solution : In 2004, SAMSUNG first introduced its widely popular OneNAND™, a unique fusion of NOR and NAND flash memory, and now the company is offering OneDRAM™, a new-concept mobile DRAM/SRAM that increases the data processing speed between processors and reduces power consumption.

32Mb NAND Flash Memory with 40nm Processing : During the latter half of 2006, SAMSUNG developed a unique CTF (charge trap flash) technology and commercialized it in the fabrication of the world's first 32Gb NAND flash memory with 40nm processing. Nonvolatile memory devices were first developed in 1971 with the introduction of the floating gate, a structure that has been used ever since. SAMSUNG's revolutionary CTF architecture overcomes the shortcomings of the floating gate, allowing the company to break the 50nm processing barrier. It will eventually lead to design rules of 30nm and smaller. The CTF research breakthrough already has netted the company 155 patents covering original and improved CTF-related technologies.

"Intelligent" DDI (Display Driver IC) : SAMSUNG's first-ever "intelligent" DDI monitors ambient light intensity and automatically adjusts the on-screen brightness of displays on mobile devices for optimal legibility. Power consumption is reduced by at least 30% when the display is used indoors.

1GB S-SIM Card : This next-generation card solution incorporates NAND flash memory in a smart card chip package. The SIM card function has been upgraded and the ability to store multimedia data has been added.

Solid State Drive : This new-concept data storage device uses flash memory in place of the conventional hard disk, expanding the application of NAND flash memory far beyond small-size mobile and digital consumer applications. The drive also improves the stability and performance of any system in which it is used. In January 2008, Samsung announced its most recent SSD technology development, a multi-level cell (MLC) flash-based 128 Gigabyte (GB) solid state drive (SSD) that will be produced this year in 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch versions for notebook and desktop PCs, as well as other mobile applications.

Hybrid Hard Drive (HHD) : First to exhibit a commercial prototype of the HHD in 2006, the SAMSUNG 2.5" hybrid hard drives for notebook PCs will be available in 2007 in 80GB, 120GB and 160GB capacities, with either 128MB or 256MB of onboard flash memory for caching purposes.