AFP, Seoul :
Samsung Electronics will invest nearly $18 billion in its chip business, the South Korean firm said Tuesday, as it seeks to expand its lead in the global memory chip and smartphone markets.
The world’s top maker of smartphones and memory chips will invest 20.4 trillion won ($17.7 billion) by 2021 to expand and upgrade its chip plants in the South Korean cities of Pyeongtaek and Hwaseong, it said in a statement.
The factory in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometres (44 miles) south of Seoul, is the world’s biggest and has recently started production after Samsung Electronics spent 15.6 trillion won over the past two years to build it.
The company also plans to expand its NAND chip plant in the Chinese city of Xian to meet booming demand for the chips used in high-end storage products, it said.
It did not elaborate on when and how much money it plans to invest there.
In smartphones, Samsung has been increasingly sandwiched by smaller Chinese rivals in the low and mid-end markets, and by Apple’s iPhone in the high-end segment.
Samsung Electronics will invest nearly $18 billion in its chip business, the South Korean firm said Tuesday, as it seeks to expand its lead in the global memory chip and smartphone markets.
The world’s top maker of smartphones and memory chips will invest 20.4 trillion won ($17.7 billion) by 2021 to expand and upgrade its chip plants in the South Korean cities of Pyeongtaek and Hwaseong, it said in a statement.
The factory in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometres (44 miles) south of Seoul, is the world’s biggest and has recently started production after Samsung Electronics spent 15.6 trillion won over the past two years to build it.
The company also plans to expand its NAND chip plant in the Chinese city of Xian to meet booming demand for the chips used in high-end storage products, it said.
It did not elaborate on when and how much money it plans to invest there.
In smartphones, Samsung has been increasingly sandwiched by smaller Chinese rivals in the low and mid-end markets, and by Apple’s iPhone in the high-end segment.
