Samsung ‘Increasing Capacity’ At Biggest Chip Plant

Samsung Electronics is planning to increase semiconductor production capacity at its biggest chip plant in 2023, breaking with an industry trend that has seen some large chip makers reducing investment, according to local media reports.

The Seoul Economic Daily cited unnamed sources as saying that Samsung would expand its P3 factory in the South Korean city of Pyeongtaek by adding 12-inch wafer capacity for DRAM memory chips.

The paper said Samsung would also install additional 4-nanometre chip capacity, which would be made under foundry contracts according to clients’ designs.

It said Samsung was also planning to add at least 10 extreme ultraviolet machines to the plant next year.

Plant upgrade

P3 is Samsung’s largest chip manufacturing facitlity and started making the latest generation of NAND flash memory chips this year.

A separate Korea Times report cited an unnamed executive with a top-tier Samsung parts supplier as saying Samsung wasn’t considering cutting its memory chip output significantly, but instead “is involved in talks with its top clients, including carmakers, about recovering healthy inventory levels”.

The executive said Samsung would focus on migrating chip technology and filling in equipment for its planned US foundries.

Future decisions about adjusting memory chip production and facility investments would depend on the progress of Samsung’s efforts to reduce its chip inventory levels, the executive said.

Negative outlook

Samsung declined to comment.

The company has continued investing during previous downturns and has benefited with increased market share once demand recovered.

The South Korean firm held 43.5 percent DRAM market share as of the second quarter of this year, followed by SK Hynix with 27.4 percent and Micron with 24.5 percent, according to industry research firms.

Micron Technology said last week it would reduce investments in fiscal 2023 to between $7 billion (£6bn) and $7.5bn, compared to $12bn in fiscal 2022, and would “significantly” reduce capital expenditure plans for fiscal 2024.

Taiwan’s TSMC in October cut its 2022 annual investment budget by at least 10 percent.