Samsung enters volume production for Cryptocoin mining ASIC

Samsung has reportedly been contracted by a China-based firm to fabricate Bitcoin mining ASICs with volume production already kicking off in January.

Samsung has started to fabricate ASICs for Bitcoin mining for an unnamed China-based company, according to a report from South Korea-based website The Bell. New orders for Bitcoin mining solutions are set to be a new driver of Samsung's future profit growth, the report quoted unspecified company sources as indicating, reports digitimes.

Bitmain Technologies, Canaan Creative and Ebang Communication are currently the leading China-based suppliers of Bitcoin mining solutions. Both Bitmain and Canaan reportedly partner with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to manufacture mining chips.

According to a recent report from Taiwan's TechNews, TSMC saw Canaan's orders for Bitcoin mining solutions bring CNY58.12 million (US$9.19 million) and CNY186 million, respectively, to company revenues in 2015 and 2016. Canaan's orders increased significantly in 2017 bringing an estimated CNY500 million to TSMC's revenues for the year.

A recent Digitimes report quoted industry sources as saying that TSMC has obtained sizable orders from Bitmain for 2018. Bitmain's orders will be enough to occupy 90% of TSMC's ASIC foundry capacity during off-peak season, as the orders from the mining company amount to 100,000 wafers monthly.