Due to sluggish demand for 8-inch wafer foundry, Samsung Foundry's wafer foundry business had a capacity utilization rate of less than 50% as of the second quarter. Industry insiders have revealed that Samsung's 8-inch OEM factory has shut down 30% of its equipment, but with further inventory reduction, it is expected to restart the equipment by the end of the year and officially resume production line operation in the first quarter of next year.

It is reported that 8-inch wafer services mainly produce power management ICs, panel driver ICs, microcontrollers, etc. Due to the unclear demand for consumer electronics products, Samsung Foundry has shut down 30% of its equipment to save costs. However, the market expects that the overall manufacturing and semiconductor industries have undergone inventory adjustments for over a year and a half, and the supply chains of the three major industries, including smartphones, PCs, and consumer electronics, are expected to experience inventory replenishment before the end of the year.

Previously, it was reported that following TSMC and World Advanced (VIS), the 8-inch wafer foundry industry in South Korea has also lowered prices this year, due to sluggish IT demand leading to a decrease in foundry utilization and the impact of the transition to a 12 inch process. Industry insiders have revealed that the price reduction in the 8-inch wafer foundry industry in South Korea this year is around 10%.

As of the second quarter, the operating rates of Samsung Electronics' 8-inch process, Key Foundry (Qifang Semiconductor), SK Hynix System IC, and others remained at 40% -50%.

Industry analysis shows that three major factors have a significant impact on the price reduction of 8-inch wafer foundry. Firstly, due to the sluggish demand for IT equipment, the utilization rate of OEM factories has decreased. Secondly, there has been a price reduction for Texas Instruments (TI) products. Thirdly, there has been a conversion from 8-inch wafer technology to 12-inch wafer technology.

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