SAMSUNG SHIPS 3-NANOMETER CHIPS

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Samsung Electronics has held a ceremony marking the first shipment of the world's first 3-nanometer chips. Expectations are running high for the advanced technology, which will likely bring seismic changes to the global chip market. Still, there are many remaining tasks the firm needs to address.

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These are 3-nanometer wafers that are fresh out of the plant. Samsung unveiled the advanced chips after successful mass-prodution for the first time in the world. They are cutting-edge chips engraved with minute electronic circuits 30,000th the size of a hair strand. The data processing speed and energy efficiency were improved through a new method of piling up multiple layers of electric channels in the chips.

[Soundbite] Kyung Kye-hyun(Samsung Electronics President) : "While boasting high efficiency and low power, the chips can be freely applied to various purposes. Using gate-all-around technology, the 3-nanometer chip production is expected to grow remarkably in the future."

Samsung beat Taiwan's TSMC in developing and mass-producing 3-nanometer chips and is being watched for what impact the feat would have on the global foundry market. TSMC took more than half of the global foundry market share in the first quarter of this year. Samsung captured less than 20 percent. 3-nanometer chips will be first supplied to high-efficiency, low-power computers. Then its use and application will be expanded. The keys to success are how many customers Samsung will be able to win and how effectively it will lower the defect rate.

[Soundbite] Ahn Ki-hyun(Korea Semiconductor Industry Association) : "The number of customers depend on the proportion of flawless products. It will attract customers only after obtaining their trust in product quality by lowering the defect rate."

Samsung plans to begin mass-producing 3-nanometer chips at its Pyeongtaek and Hwaseong factories.