Samsung joins hands with Swiss chip firm

World’s largest memory chipmaker Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday that it has forged a business tie-up with a Swiss semiconductor solution firm in promoting their foundry business.

Samsung said that it has cooperated with STMicroelectronics N.V. in developing the 32 and 28-nano chip technology, and will continue the bilateral cooperation.

Geneva-based STMicroelectronics is the seventh-largest chipmaker that designs, develops and manufactures semiconductor products used in various electronic devices.

Samsung’s foundry team has started manufacturing the Swiss firm’s 32 and 28-nanometer System on Chips for mobile devices, home appliances and network systems, the South Korean company said in a statement.

The company’s foundry business fabricates chip designs of other companies that do not have a semiconductor production plants. U.S. tech giant Apple Inc. is one of Samsung’s customers.

“We have successfully started manufacturing orders of STMicroelectronics,” said an official from the South Korean company. “We will further expand our foundry business and meet with customers’ demands.”

The foundry market will grow to US$43.4 billion in 2016, from $32.7 billion this year, according to market researcher Gartner. (Yonhap News)