Samsung Planning $14.7 Billion Investment In South Korea Chip Manufacturing Plant
Following the philosophy that it takes spending money to make money, Samsung Electronics announced plans to invest around 15.6 trillion won (around $14.7 billion in U.S. currency) to build a new chip manufacturing plant in South Korea. This qualifies as Samsung's biggest investment ever into a single semiconductor plant.
Construction of the new facility will begin in the first half of next year in Pyeongtaek, located about 47 miles south of Seoul, and is expected to generate 150,000 jobs, according to Reuters. That's equivalent to around a third of the city's total population.
If all goes to plan, the plant will open for business in 2017. Samsung is still deciding whether to use the upcoming facility for logic chips or memory chips. Either way, the parts will end up in mobile devices, including smartphones and wearable gadgets.
"Our investment into the new fabrication plant will significantly influence the shaping of Samsung's future semiconductor business," Kwon Oh Hyun, vice chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics, said in a statement.
Samsung's decision to make such a heavy investment comes out of the fact that demand for mobile devices is red hot and rising with each passing day. Producing more chips will also help Samsung offset a drop in global smartphone market share.
Construction of the new facility will begin in the first half of next year in Pyeongtaek, located about 47 miles south of Seoul, and is expected to generate 150,000 jobs, according to Reuters. That's equivalent to around a third of the city's total population.
If all goes to plan, the plant will open for business in 2017. Samsung is still deciding whether to use the upcoming facility for logic chips or memory chips. Either way, the parts will end up in mobile devices, including smartphones and wearable gadgets.
"Our investment into the new fabrication plant will significantly influence the shaping of Samsung's future semiconductor business," Kwon Oh Hyun, vice chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics, said in a statement.
Samsung's decision to make such a heavy investment comes out of the fact that demand for mobile devices is red hot and rising with each passing day. Producing more chips will also help Samsung offset a drop in global smartphone market share.
