Samsung Electronics Wednesday announced it has added RF/IoT and fingerprint technology solutions to chips designs manufactured on 8-inch (200mm) wafer for fabless technology companies. The two new services are now available along with eFlash, Power, display driver IC (DDI) and CMOS image sensor (CIS) offerings.

Currently, customers are working closely with Samsung to utilize the company’s cutting-edge 8-inch technology offerings in various applications, the company said in a statement. All 8-inch offerings, ranging from 180nm to 65nm, are processed at Line 6, a highly automated facility at its Giheung campus in Korea.

Samsung Electronics in May last year launched a stand-alone foundry entity at 5.3 trillion won ($.4.76 billion) in hopes to up its 7.7 percent share over 2017 to 25 percent by 2022 to catch up with market leader TSMC which account for a 56 percent share and ensure steady revenue from chip business which currently hinges largely on volatile memory market.

Wafer size and technology node define the competitiveness in semiconductor manufacturing.

The integrated semiconductor behemoth has been employing its cutting-edge technologies to add value for customized chips and processors to steal contract customers away from bigger pure-play foundries.

“By expanding our technology offerings into the RF/IoT and fingerprint segments, we will enable our customers to take advantage of Samsung’s state-of-the-art 8-inch solutions in a broader range of applications," said a Samsung Electronics official.

Samsung has established customer centric 8-inch service capabilities with great multi-project wafer (MPW) programs as well as intellectual property (IP) and launched the Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem (SAFETM) program this year.

Shares of Samsung Electronics closed Thursday up 1.41 percent at 2,589,000 won.

By Lee Jae-cheol and Minu Kim

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