According to South Korean media, Samsung is planning a massive expansion of its Pyeongtaek site. Three additional fabs could be created, each estimated at around 30 trillion Korean won, bringing the total to up to US$74 billion.
Samsung invests a lot of money
The fact that Samsung wants to invest more in its factories has not only been known for a short time. While it was 23.7 trillion won in 2018, this figure rose to 43.6 trillion won last year – almost double that. But the plans for the future go much further, as reported by the media. Accordingly, the campus in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of the capital Seoul, which is already one of the largest semiconductor complexes in the world, is to be expanded by three more factories. The site would then contain a total of six plants if the plans are implemented exactly as reported.
Samsung's major goal is to be number 1 in the semiconductor business by 2030. Even the current slowdown in the market should not affect these plans, in the long term the market will continue to grow strongly, according to industry circles.
Samsung already had this last week not only announced corresponding plans, but also laid the foundation stone for a new research and development campus. Here, too, Samsung surprised with the size of the project, which is why the sum of 74 billion US dollars under discussion for the three factories no longer seems so exaggerated. Because the R&D campus is said to cost 15 billion US dollars. As usual, the money is not spent all at once, but invested over many years. It could well be another ten years before the three additional factories in Pyeongtaek are finally up and running. After all, construction work on the fourth of a total of six plants is said to have already begun.