Samsung Electronics launches HPC service to accelerate digital twin-based development

Samsung Electronics' DX Division officially launched its in-house high-performance computing service Sunday, the company announced. The division plans to drive product development innovation through digital twin technology, starting with pre-verification applications such as smartphone and TV drop tests and robotic vacuum cleaner collision simulations.

Industry observers say the HPC server deployment significantly strengthens the foundation for Samsung Electronics' broader AI transformation, known internally as AX. While the newly launched HPC servers focus on the product development stage, the company also plans to extend the digital twin framework to the factory floor — converting every domestic and overseas production factory into an AI autonomous factory by 2030. Samsung is widely credited with taking an early lead in manufacturing innovation by proactively adopting digital twin technology.

To sharpen its digital twin-based development capabilities, Samsung Electronics' DX Division installed 517 HPC servers at its Sangam-dong data center and formally opened the HPC service to mechanical and circuit development teams.

Digital twin technology creates a virtual replica of the physical world, enabling simulations of real-world scenarios to predict outcomes. Global companies have taken notice because the technology lets engineers compare and analyze multiple scenarios in a virtual environment, supporting better decision-making and shortening development timelines.

The new HPC infrastructure is built around servers equipped with high-performance CPUs, delivering nearly six times the computing speed and roughly six times the virtual verification capacity of the previous setup. Samsung expects the system to significantly improve pre-verification efficiency — for instance, by replacing lengthy physical endurance tests with faster computational analysis.

This year, the DX Division is rolling out HPC infrastructure projects across its business units, focusing on tasks that require large-scale sampling and extended verification time. The initiative virtualizes pre-verification systems across flagship product lines including smartphones, TVs, home appliances and telecommunications equipment.

By business unit, the HPC infrastructure will support multi-angle drop testing for smartphones in the MX Division; drop and heat verification for TVs in the VD Division; long-term diaphragm verification and collision testing for washing machines and robotic vacuum cleaners in the Digital Appliances Division; and heat dissipation verification for radio units in the Networks Division.

Samsung expects the HPC rollout to accelerate new product launch cycles and expand the scope of verification, while also improving quality reliability. Shorter verification timelines translate directly into faster product launches, making the capability a meaningful competitive advantage in the fiercely contested smartphone and TV markets.

In terms of time savings, TV drop verification — which previously took 15 days — is expected to be completed in two days, while washing machine drop verification will shrink from 15 days to five. Replacing repeated physical prototype testing with virtual simulation will dramatically cut development lead times.

The new infrastructure also makes previously impossible tests feasible. Multi-angle smartphone drop verification, which could not be conducted before, can now cover 700 cases in a single day. Long-term washing machine diaphragm verification, which once relied entirely on physical testing, can now be completed within two days.

Simulation analysis using proprietary HPC infrastructure has historically been concentrated in industries with expensive prototypes, such as automotive, aerospace and semiconductors. Samsung Electronics' DX Division build-out is the first dedicated, company-wide shared infrastructure purpose-built for pre-verification of finished consumer electronics and IT products — including smartphones, TVs and washing machines — across all business units.

Industry observers say the newly launched HPC service carries significant weight because it aligns with Samsung Electronics' strategy to convert all its factories into AI autonomous factories. The company announced in March that it would complete the transition at all domestic and overseas production factories by 2030.

An AI autonomous factory applies AI across every stage of manufacturing. The core of the initiative is introducing digital twin-based simulation from raw material intake through production and shipment, while strengthening data-driven analysis and pre-verification through AI agents dedicated to quality, production and logistics.

Samsung envisions factories that go beyond simple automation — facilities where AI understands the production environment and makes decisions independently. To that end, the company is also pursuing a phased introduction of humanoid manufacturing robots across all production processes.

Because the newly launched HPC service handles digital twins at the product development stage, it is expected to accelerate the broader shift to AI autonomous factories. Simulation data and analytical capabilities built up during development are expected to feed naturally into digital twins on the manufacturing floor, ultimately completing an AX framework spanning the entire cycle from development through mass production.

Industry watchers have noted Samsung Electronics' decision to build its own HPC infrastructure rather than rely on external cloud services. By keeping core technology assets — including product design drawings and verification data — in-house, the company has secured tighter data protection while building a foundation that can respond flexibly to large-scale computational demand.

Analysts also point to the strategic significance of the HPC simulation capability as a long-term investment in the data and analytical infrastructure the AI autonomous factory era will require by 2030, not merely a short-term development efficiency gain. Reaching a stage where AI autonomously judges and verifies conditions on the factory floor will require vast stores of simulation data and the computing power to process them.

"The HPC service will be the starting point for embedding digital twins as a routine way of working on the development floor," an industry official said. "As virtual verification data accumulates, both accuracy and the range of applications will expand together, so Samsung Electronics' digital twin transformation — leading toward AI autonomous factories by 2030 — is expected to pick up considerable speed."

최태원 SK 회장 “나의 수십개 아바타들이 일하고 소통하게 할 것”

https://biz.heraldcorp.com/article/10771413?sec=027