# Samsung Electronics will close 8-inch foundry lines by 2030 *The company notified fabless clients it will shut legacy wafer lines at its Giheung campus by December 2030, shifting capital and engineering staff to advanced 300mm nodes.* **Published:** November 3, 2026 **By:** Ji-woo Han **Section:** Semiconductors & AI Hardware — South Korea **Format:** Breaking **Confidence:** medium **Source:** https://eastasiabrief.com/semiconductors/samsung-electronics-will-close-8-inch-foundry-lines-2030-1083 **Publisher:** East Asia Brief (https://eastasiabrief.com/) --- ## What to know - Samsung notified clients it will terminate all 8-inch foundry operations by Dec. 31, 2030 - Closure removes 250,000 monthly 200mm wafer starts from domestic contract capacity - Initial S7 fab closure takes effect Dec. 31, 2026 following April order freeze ![A cleanroom technician monitors an automated robotic arm handling semiconductor wafers on a conveyor line inside a manufacturing facility. (AI-generated image)](https://eastasiabrief.com/media/2026-11-02-dac5bb262c59.webp) *A cleanroom technician monitors an automated robotic arm handling semiconductor wafers on a conveyor line inside a manufacturing facility. (AI-generated image)* Samsung Electronics notified its fabless customers on Nov. 2, 2026 that it will completely terminate operations across its 8-inch wafer foundry business by the end of 2030. The phased exit closes legacy lines at the Giheung campus in South Korea. The facility currently maintains a production volume of roughly 250,000 8-inch wafer starts per month across three dedicated manufacturing fabs. The shutdown targets production lines built on mature nodes between 65 nanometers and 180 nanometers. Output covers analog power management chips, display driver integrated circuits and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor image sensors. Samsung Foundry began limiting commercial access earlier this year. Executive Vice President Kang Seok-chae told analysts during an earnings call in April 2026 that the company would systematically shutter lines and halt new order intake. The formal notification establishes a definitive timetable for an ongoing retrenchment. Samsung decided in January to decommission its S7 line by December 2026, cutting total 8-inch capacity by 50,000 wafers per month to below 200,000 wafers. The remaining S6 and S8 lines at Giheung will continue processing contracted inventory until their final closure in December 2030. Equipment and floor space will undergo phased decommissioning as long-term customer purchase agreements expire. Samsung is terminating mature contract manufacturing to protect division margins. Depressed utilization across global legacy fabs and persistent price competition from Chinese state-backed foundries have eroded operating profits for 200-millimeter wafer operations. Operating rates across Samsung 8-inch lines slid to roughly 50% during recent cyclical downturns. Prolonged price discounts by competitors such as Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation prevented a durable pricing recovery for standard planar silicon. The company will reallocate cleanroom space, electrical infrastructure and specialized process engineers to 300-millimeter fabs. Capital expenditure will concentrate on sub-3-nanometer gate-all-around nodes and high-density advanced packaging in Pyeongtaek and Taylor, Texas. The decision forces domestic fabless design houses to locate alternative manufacturing partners. South Korean chip designers rely heavily on local 8-inch capacity for automotive power silicon, display interfaces and mobile sensor controllers. LX Semicon faces substantial packaging and production realignments. The display driver specialist generated over 85% of its $1.5 billion annual revenue from panel interface silicon, with Samsung Foundry serving as an essential secondary foundry. Microcontroller supplier ABOV Semiconductor must shift high-volume home appliance silicon away from Giheung. The firm books approximately 70% of its total revenue from 8-inch microcontrollers built on 90-nanometer and 130-nanometer process nodes. Dongwoon Anatech requires fresh manufacturing slots for autofocus driver integrated circuits and haptic control silicon. The company relies on mature 180-nanometer analog lines for more than 60% of its quarterly commercial shipments. Silicon Mitus and Imagis confront parallel foundry transitions for power management circuits and touch controllers. Both companies depend on domestic 200-millimeter lines for specialty power discrete and mixed-signal automotive components. Transferring validated mask sets to competing fabs requires twelve to eighteen months of qualification testing. Re-engineering integrated circuits entails high mask-tooling fees, wafer run tests and vehicle-grade reliability recertification. Domestic alternatives cannot immediately absorb the displaced wafer volumes. South Korea retains only two independent 8-inch pure-play foundries: DB HiTek and SK keyfoundry. DB HiTek operates two domestic manufacturing sites with a combined monthly output of approximately 150,000 wafers. The company is operating near full capacity, with production lines heavily committed to existing analog customers. SK keyfoundry runs a single 200-millimeter fabrication facility in Cheongju with an estimated monthly throughput of 90,000 wafers. Utilization rates at the facility exceeded 88% throughout the prior two quarters. Design houses unable to secure domestic capacity must turn to overseas foundries. Taiwan-based Vanguard International Semiconductor and United Microelectronics Corporation represent viable non-Chinese options, though automotive capacity remains tightly constrained. Foundries based in mainland China offer available capacity at discounted wafer rates. However, trade restrictions and Western supply chain compliance guidelines prevent South Korean chip designers from using Chinese fabs for export-bound automotive components. Migrating 8-inch designs directly to 12-inch wafers presents steep financial barriers for smaller chip designers. Mask sets for 300-millimeter wafers cost three times as much as legacy 200-millimeter tooling. Samsung will shut the S7 line on Dec. 31, 2026, marking the first milestone in the exit program. The entire 8-inch foundry division will cease commercial production on Dec. 31, 2030. The company has not published formal regulatory filings on the Korea Exchange regarding asset write-downs. Samsung has also not disclosed line-by-line tool sale agreements or detailed site conversion blueprints. ## Impact map | Event | Korea | China | Japan | Global impact | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 8-inch foundry exit | DB HiTek and SK keyfoundry see legacy spillover, but domestic fabless face wafer reallocation | SMIC and Hua Hong capture price-sensitive analog contracts | Renesas and Rohm face reduced external foundry redundancy for legacy auto silicon | Automotive and industrial PMIC lead times risk lengthening as legacy 200mm supply shrinks | ## In this story - **Companies:** Samsung Electronics - **Tickers:** 005930.KS - **Exposed:** DB HiTek, SK keyfoundry, LX Semicon, ABOV Semiconductor, Dongwoon Anatech, Silicon Mitus, Imagis - **Impact:** Capex, Supply Chain, Pricing ## Primary sources 1. thelec.kr 2. samsung.com 3. thelec.net 4. fourweekmba.com 5. businesskorea.co.kr --- Cite as: East Asia Brief, "Samsung Electronics will close 8-inch foundry lines by 2030," November 3, 2026. https://eastasiabrief.com/semiconductors/samsung-electronics-will-close-8-inch-foundry-lines-2030-1083