Samsung plans to invest billions in next-generation chips and technology.
Samsung said it plans to spend 450 trillion won, or about $355 billion, on strategic businesses that include chips, biopharmaceuticals and next-generation technologies through 2026.
The amount of spending marks an increase of more than 30% over the previous five years, during which the company spent 330 trillion won.
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The 450 trillion won will be for capital expenditure and research, with 360 trillion won invested in South Korea, Samsung said, adding that countries around the world recognize the strategic importance of the semiconductor and biopharmaceutical industries.
The company stressed that it is important to maintain the supply chain for these industries in South Korea amid the current climate and said it will also create 80,000 new jobs over the course of this five-year period.
This new spending plan from Samsung is essentially an updated version of what it announced last year, in which it said it would spend 240 trillion won over three years in strategic areas. The spending and job creation per year have increased compared to the previous plan.
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The announcement also comes shortly after U.S. President Joe Biden visited Samsung's chip factory in Pyeongtaek , South Korea, during his Asia tour. Samsung said last year it plans to spend $17 billion to build a new chip factory in Taylor, Texas.
In its new five-year spending plan, Samsung said it will continue to invest in memory chips and boost research into new materials and chip. The investment will also focus on logic chips such as application processors and image sensors. In addition, the company will continue to work on new chips that combine memory and processing functions on a single chip.
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Samsung also said it plans to promote mass production of chips based on the 3nm node.
Finally, in the biopharmaceutical sector, its subsidiaries, Samsung Biologics and Samsung Bioepis, will continue to invest in expanding their production capacity and portfolio of biosimilar products.
Other strategic areas included in Samsung's spending plan include 5G and 6G, as well as artificial intelligence.
Source: www.zdnet.com
