Samsung opens world’s largest chip plant
Tech titan to invest 37 trillion won (US$32 billion) on chip, display by 2021
By Lee Min-hyung
Samsung Electronics opened the world’s largest semiconductor plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday, seeking to meet surging demand for state-of-the-art 3D NAND flash chips.
The new chip factory will help the Seoul-based tech giant tighten its grip on the global memory chip market. The Pyeongtaek plant, mass-producing 64-layer V-NAND flashes, is 2.89 square kilometres in area, or about 400 football fields.
Samsung started work on the factory in 2015 to cement its leadership in the data-driven tech industry. Demand for memory chips with higher storage continues to grow for data centres and other emerging technologies — including big data, artificial intelligence and vehicles, the company said.
Samsung also unveiled its plan to invest 37 trillion won (US$32.14 billion) in expanding manufacturing facilities for chips and display panels by 2021.
In a breakdown, the company plans to invest 30 trillion won expanding the Pyeongtaek plant’s production capacity. It will also allocate 6 trillion won (5.23 billion) to build cutting-edge infrastructure for its semiconductor factory in Hwasung, Gyeonggi Province.
The rest will be used for its display panel-making affiliate Samsung Display, which is set to establish additional facilities to make organic light-emitting-diode (OLED) panels in Asan, South Chungcheong Province.