Samsung has officially laid the foundation stone for a new semiconductor R&D complex in Giheung, South Korea. This new installation should allow the group not to be left behind by its Taiwanese rival TSMC.
Samsung Vice President Lee Jae-yong, second from left, attended the foundation stone laying ceremony for the new electronic components R&D complex in Giheung, South Korea. © Samsung
Samsung continues to gain momentum in electronic components. The South Korean giant officially laid the foundation stone of a new R&D complex dedicated to semiconductors in Giheung, South Korea, on Friday August 19. For this to see the light of day, the group plans to invest 20 trillion won, or nearly $15 billion, by 2028.
Lee Jae-yong, the heir to the country’s largest conglomerate, attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the new complex. Last week, he benefited from a presidential pardon after being convicted of corruption in a vast politico-financial affair which had notably resulted in the dismissal of the former president of South Korea, Park Geun-hye. Its return to the front of the stage should allow Samsung to strengthen itself, in particular through acquisitions, while South Korea is facing an economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
With this new installation, the group, whose worldwide turnover represents one-fifth of South Korea’s GDP, intends “to overcome the limitations of semiconductor scaling and solidify its competitive advantage in electronic component technology”. In this context, the future R&D center should make it possible to carry out “advanced research on new innovative technologies and new wafer fabrication processes for memory and system semiconductors, as well as the development of new innovative technologies based on a long-term roadmap”said Samsung.
A plan of nearly 360 billion dollars between 2022 and 2026
This roadmap is none other than the investment plan of nearly 360 billion dollars over five years undertaken by the South Korean group to remain at the forefront in strategic sectors, such as semiconductors and biopharmaceutical technologies. . Under the five-year plan, Samsung pledges to create 80,000 jobs by 2026. This war effort aims to better compete with Taiwanese rival TSMC, which dominates the global semiconductor market.
The latter plans to invest 100 billion dollars over three years in its production units. In total, the world’s leading founder, which invested 30 billion dollars in its factories last year, plans to spend 40 to 44 billion in 2022. TSMC, which counts Apple, AMD, Qualcomm and Nvidia among its customers , is investing 12 billion dollars in the construction of a production site in the United States and 7 billion dollars to build a factory with Sony in Japan.