Lee Jae-yong, chairman of South Korean technology giant Samsung Electronics, is visiting the United States. Industry insiders speculate that this trip may lead to Samsung's investment in the American semiconductor company Intel. Sources say that since TSMC has invested heavily in the packaging business for artificial intelligence chips, Samsung may enhance its competitiveness through cooperation with Intel, because Intel and TSMC are the only two high-end chip manufacturers in the world that are capable of advanced back-end-of-line (BEOL) chip manufacturing.
BEOL refers to the technology of placing finished chips into a complete package containing memory and other components. It is also a key link in the artificial intelligence chip supply chain. Since GPUs and accelerators require a lot of power to operate, their packaging technology must be more stringent to avoid failures.
Sources pointed out that Samsung's interest is also based on another basis, that is, if the market shares of back-end and front-end chip manufacturing are combined, Samsung's position in the global chip manufacturing market is not as good as Intel's. However, once the two companies collaborate, they will share resources to catch up with TSMC.
According to reports, Intel is considering licensing glass substrate technology to other companies to generate revenue. Glass substrate and BEOL are key collaborative innovations in semiconductor packaging technology and can help optimize the thermal stability, dielectric properties and mechanical strength of the chip.
Intel launched its first glass substrate packaging plan in 2023, targeting mass production in 2026. However, there are rumors that Intel has decided to stop investing in glass substrates.
This also means that Intel is likely to seek financing for its glass substrate business from outside, and Samsung is likely to be a potential target. Another piece of evidence that makes this speculation more credible is that an important glass substrate person has joined Samsung, further increasing the possibility of cooperation between the two companies.
Under this assumption, Intel and Samsung may form a joint venture, or it may be carried out in the form of equity investment, similar to the previous investment in Intel by SoftBank Group and the US government.
This will also help streamline Intel's loss-making chip foundry business and inject more mature and professional Samsung foundry experience. Samsung will gain Intel's competitive advantage in the packaging industry, thereby narrowing the gap between it and TSMC in cutting-edge chip manufacturing.