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A cleanroom in a Samsung Electronics semiconductor production facility.
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Announces plan to boost competitiveness of non-memory semiconductors
Samsung Electronics announced plans on Apr. 27 to invest a total of 133 trillion won (US$114.88 billion) through 2030 in expanding system semiconductor research and development (R&D) and production technology. Its vision involves increasing investment in non-memory semiconductors such as system semiconductors in addition to memory semiconductors, which are seen as having reached their growth limits. The “Semiconductor Vision 2030” plan announced by Samsung Electronics includes investment of 73 trillion won (US$63.06 billion) in system semiconductor R&D and 60 trillion won (US$51.83 billion) in increased production infrastructure through 2030. The company also announced plans to hire 15,000 workers in related areas over the same period. If the investment proceeds as planned, it will translate into an average of 11 trillion won (US$9.5 billion) per year through 2030 and result in an indirect employment inducement effect of 420,000 jobs from increased production, the company predicted. Samsung Electronics also emphasized its aim of contributing to the advancement of the South Korean system semiconductor ecosystem as a whole through mutually beneficial cooperation, including support for domestic fabless companies specializing in semiconductor design. It further pledged to provide domestic fabless small businesses with support for design-related intellectual property (IP) rights in areas such as interface, analog devices, and security. Additionally, it announced plans to expand outsourcing cooperation with domestic design house companies to lay the groundwork for a cooperative ecosystem. The investment plan announced by Samsung Electronics appears to have the support of the administration. In a Cabinet meeting on Mar. 19, President Moon Jae-in said he “hope[d] to see ideas soon for lessening the overemphasis on memory semiconductors by increasing the competitiveness of the non-memory semiconductor area, which is less competitive than memory semiconductors.” In August 2018, the Samsung Group announced plans to invest 180 trillion won (US$155.43 billion) over three years and hire 40,000 workers. But variables such as the US-China trade war, a semiconductor business collusion investigation by the Chinese government, and sentencing in vice chairman Lee Jae-yong’s Supreme Court case in connection with the Choi Soon-sil government interference scandal had many observers predicting the group would wait to observe the market situation without taking aggressive action. Analysts predicted that Lee’s Supreme Court ruling is unlikely to come within the month as initially anticipated. By Kim Jin-cheol, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
