Samsung Electronics has hired Margaret Han, a former senior executive at TSMC, to lead its North American foundry operations, in a move widely seen as an effort to strengthen its competitiveness in the U.S. chip manufacturing market.

According to Korean media reports and Han's LinkedIn profile, she spent over two decades at TSMC, from January 2000 to June 2021. She briefly worked at Intel and later served as a vice president at NXP Semiconductors starting in July 2022. Han joined Samsung in March this year, taking on a key leadership role.

Her appointment comes as Samsung ramps up efforts to secure U.S. customers for its advanced foundry services. The company is investing $17 billion in its new wafer fab in Taylor, Texas, with the goal of winning business from tech giants such as NVIDIA, AMD, Tesla, and Amazon.

Industry analysts say Samsung urgently needs experienced leadership familiar with the North American market to bridge the trust gap with U.S. clients and narrow the competitive gap with TSMC, which remains the dominant force in global foundry services.