Samsung plans US$19B investment in chip-making plants as demand soars

SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of—Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it will invest 21.4 trillion won (US$19 billion) in the next four years in its memory chip and display plants in South Korea.

The South Korean company’s announcement comes as the global memory chip industry enjoys a massive boom thanks to a surge in demand for microchips. Global tech companies have been increasing servers and data centres to handle more data from mobile devices and auto vehicles and also on expectations that adoption of artificial intelligence would create even more demand for handling data.

Samsung said by 2021, it will spend an additional 14.4 trillion won ($12.5 billion) to increase the capacity in its memory chip factory in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, which began operating in the day. Samsung said the 15.6 trillion won ($13.6 billion) chip plant, which broke ground two years ago, is one of the largest semiconductor production lines in the world.

Samsung will spend 6 trillion won ($5.2 billion) in its memory chip cluster in Hwaseong as well.

Another 1 trillion won ($871 million) will be spent on its display factory in Asan, which produces OLED screens for mobile phones. Samsung uses OLED screens for its high-end Galaxy smartphones. The advanced displays have allowed Samsung to distinguish its Galaxy phones from rivals with curved forms. Samsung is the dominant supplier and OLED screens for mobile devices are a lucrative business for the company, along with memory chips.

Samsung added that it is considering adding more semiconductor production lines in its factory in Xi’an, China.