Samsung has announced plans to increase the cost of semiconductor wafers, some of which are used in consumer technologies like Nvidia graphics cards, smartphones, and system-on-a-chip (SOCs), to finance expansion of its S5. Fab. factory in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. Samsung Foundry has previously struggled to meet manufacturing targets to meet demand, so this ancillary facility in Pyeongtaek is expected to allow for more production numbers. The downside, of course, is that someone will accept the cost of these cost increases, which could lead to an increase in the MSRP of popular GPUs.
Manufacturing to meet high demand
The ongoing global shortage of silicon chips has been exacerbating GPU costs for months, with scalpers grabbing scarce stocks using bots and reselling huge profits on the rising demand. The situation is impressively difficult, but it can be boiled down to the fact that technology is spreading into new industries, forcing cell phone and computer makers to share free components with everything from vehicles to refrigerators. And of course, many of the best graphics cards have been purchased en masse over the past year for use in cryptocurrency mining rigs like Ethereum due to rapid inflation. Samsung's resolve to expand its production facilities does seem to be a necessity, and demand for chips in new industries is only going to increase competition for manufacturers striving for current peak production, but there is no way to increase the low cost production. Samsung Foundry's S5 line is the company's most advanced production facility, using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography to create the company's 4LPE and 5LPP modules. With EUV scanners costing around €XNUMX million to €XNUMX million, expansion is going to be an expensive thing.
(Image credit: Le Bloc) This may be scary news for anyone still trying to pick up a GeForce RTX XNUMX at a reasonable cost, especially given the fact that we've seen a positive downtrend for graphics cards in in recent weeks thanks to crypto mining hotspots like China cracking down on mining operations, causing coins to crash. . If you're happy to put yourself out there and pick up a second-hand product, crypto miners in China have been flooding the second-hand GPU market in recent weeks, with announcements for the GeForce RTX XNUMX announced from XNUMX yuan (around to €XNUMX / €XNUMX / AU €XNUMX). We haven't seen any real change in the GPU market in the West yet, but don't start freaking out just yet. The increased costs for manufacturers are likely not to be incorporated immediately. The assumption is that these ancillary costs will be passed on to individual service customers via Nvidia and smartphone manufacturers, which will increase the cost of consumer hardware, but there is still the possibility that companies have ways of accept the financial burden.
Analysis: we are here for the long term
While we can always be optimistic about the return of really affordable graphics cards, it seems like an unlikely eventuality. Regardless of the state of crypto mining, the chip shortage isn't likely to go away anytime soon thanks to rising demand for everything from smartphones to kitchen appliances, especially with wafer makers running at full capacity. There are current predictions that the market will continue in its inflated state until at least the end of XNUMX, but don't treat this estimate as gospel. As technology continues to develop, we may see even more new faces lining up for chips, so it's best to limit your hopes slightly. Samsung is technically the only semiconductor subcontractor to have officially announced wafer cost increases for its service customers, but TSMC said earlier this year that discounts for big service customers like AMD and Apple would be removed. If these big technology manufacturers have to start paying more, probably, the customers of the service, we will end up covering the ancillary costs. The best graphics card deals of the moment Via WCCFTech