Samsung Electronics to invest $26 billion in its South Korean memory chip manufacturing business

Samsung is to invest more than KRW 37 trillion ($32 billion) in its global production facilities. Of this, KRW 30 trillion ($26 billion) will be pumped into its latest semiconductor factory in Pyeongtaek to further expand its production capacity.

The South Korean company says that the new facility has started to produce its 64-layer, fourth-generation V-NAND chips, and it wants to push more off the production line.

Samsung says that it is responding to demand following a surge of interest in the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence. In a bid to ensure it maintains its position as the world's biggest chip-maker, the company is throwing vast amounts of money at the business, as well as reviewing plans to build a second semiconductor fabrication line in Xi’an, China.

Here are Samsung's announcements in full:

• By 2021, Samsung will invest a total of KRW 30 trillion into its current Pyeongtaek line to expand its semiconductor fabrication capacity
• Samsung also plans to invest KRW 6 trillion in its Hwaseong, South Korea, site for a semiconductor fabrication line optimized to install state-of-the-art infrastructure including Extreme Ultra Violet (EUV) equipment
• Samsung Display is reviewing plans to establish a new OLED manufacturing site in Asan, South Korea, by 2018

Oh-Hyun Kwon, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Samsung Electronics, said: "With the dedication and support of our employees, customers and partners, our new Pyeongtaek campus represents a new chapter in Samsung's semiconductor operations."

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