China foundries pose no immediate threat to Samsung, TSMC, Lam founder says - KED Global

The semiconductor industry landscape reveals complex dynamics as global leaders like Samsung and TSMC maintain their competitive edge despite China's rapid foundry development. The US government's str... Read original →

Chinese foundries remain technologically distant from TSMC and Samsung in 3nm/EUV, but their aggressive capacity build-out is reshaping global supply chain redundancy assumptions. U.S. policy support for Intel’s foundry push reflects a strategic pivot toward 'de-risked' manufacturing nodes, compelling Apple and others to reassess overreliance on East Asia. This elevates compliance costs across advanced process chains and accelerates the bifurcation of equipment and EDA ecosystems along geopolitical lines. Samsung may counter with HBM-integrated logic foundry bundles, while TSMC leverages its Arizona and Japan fabs to reinforce a 'trusted manufacturing' narrative. Over the next 18 months, the industry will drift toward quasi-bloc alignment—where technology standards, tool access, and customer loyalty are increasingly dictated by trust-based geopolitical spheres rather than pure economics. Without a breakthrough in domestic EUV alternatives, China’s foundries will remain locked in mature-node competition through 2027.