Samsung installed its first high numerical aperture (High-NA) EUV (extreme ultraviolet lithography) equipment in March this year for the production of 1.4nm chips, and is expected to better compete with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) through tariff reductions. When Samsung develops and eventually mass-produces sub-2nm wafers, purchasing high-NA EUV equipment from ASML is an expensive investment, costing approximately US$400 million per device, but in order to compete with TSMC, the largest rival in the semiconductor industry, Samsung has to bear this risk.
To help Samsung transition smoothly, the South Korean government is said to be planning to eliminate tariffs on imported related equipment. At the same time, Samsung has also taken action and installed high NA EUV equipment for its 1.4nm production line in March.
In order to accelerate the production of 2nm GAA chips, it was earlier reported that Samsung has placed more orders for high-NA EUV equipment. Although there were previous rumors that Samsung canceled the development of the 1.4nm process, the company seems to have overcome the yield issues of the 2nm GAA node, and its Exynos 2600 chip is expected to enter mass production later this year. Once Samsung proves that its new generation process can achieve the same performance as TSMC's 2nm architecture and can be efficiently mass-produced, they will enter the next stage and start accepting customer orders.
To achieve this goal, the Korean Economic News reported that the Korean government will reduce tariffs on related imported goods to zero to enhance competitiveness. Considering that the unit price of high-NA EUV equipment is as high as US$400 million, it is already very expensive even without tariffs. If Samsung wants to compete with TSMC in terms of technical strength, the overall cost must be reduced.
The EUV equipment currently used for 1.4nm production is the EXE:5000 that Samsung purchased from ASML earlier this year and has been installed at the Hwaseong factory. Although Samsung is currently focusing on the 2-nanometer production line, reports indicate that the company plans to start large-scale mass production of 1.4-nanometer chips by 2027, striving to achieve a lead over TSMC in the next year.