Seoul [South Korea], October 12 (ANI): Samsung affiliates plan to invest a combined 12.26 trillion won (USD 9.15 billion) in semiconductor operations, with nearly 8 trillion won (USD 5.99 billion) earmarked for Vietnam while expanding high-end production capacity in South Korea, The Korea Herald reported.
According to the report, Samsung Electronics plans to invest 105.79 trillion Vietnamese dong (USD 4.09 billion) in memory chip testing facilities at Yen Binh Industrial Park in Thai Nguyen, northern Vietnam. The first production line is scheduled to begin operations in the fourth quarter of 2027, with another planned for 2028.
The facilities will carry out final testing of DRAM and NAND flash chips packaged at Samsung's Cheonan plant in South Korea. The investment will expand testing capacity overseas rather than shift wafer manufacturing out of South Korea, the report said.
Citing Joo Seung-hwan, a professor at Inha University's Graduate School of Manufacturing Innovation, the report said that the plan appeared aimed at keeping high-value products such as high-bandwidth memory at facilities in Cheonan and Onyang while shifting more conventional memory work to Vietnam. Samsung has not disclosed how testing volumes will be divided between the countries.
Around 66.64 trillion dong (USD 2.58 billion), or 63 per cent of the planned investment in the Vietnamese testing facilities, is expected to be funded through reinvested profits from Samsung's local operations, according to the report.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics is also expanding its flip-chip ball grid array substrate capacity through an investment of 6.78 trillion won (USD 5.08 billion) announced on September 29. Of this, 4.27 trillion won (USD 3.20 billion) will be invested in Sejong, South Korea, and 2.51 trillion won (USD 1.88 billion) in Vietnam.
These substrates connect high-performance processors to circuit boards and are seeing growing demand as AI servers require larger and more complex chip packages, The Korea Herald reported.
The company plans to begin mass production at its expanded Sejong facility in September 2028, while the Vietnamese expansion is targeted for completion and operation by June 2030.
The report said Sejong will focus on high-value, technically demanding products, while Vietnam will handle growing global orders.
The expansion is backed by funding support and medium- to long-term purchase commitments from global customers, helping reduce upfront investment risks and secure demand for additional capacity.
However, the report noted that the impact of Samsung Electronics' new Vietnamese testing lines on its existing Korean operations remains unclear.
"Expanding production facilities overseas and building a local semiconductor ecosystem are two different things," the report said, citing an industry source.
"What matters is which materials and equipment can be sourced locally, and how far local suppliers can participate in the process. Without that foundation, Vietnam's role may remain limited to hosting additional production facilities," the report added. (ANI)
Samsung affiliates plan USD 9.15 billion semiconductor investment, with major expansion in Vietnam and South Korea
