Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Kim Ki-nam, announces a plan to invest into Pyeongtaek Campus’s P3 Line in Gyeonggi-do at a session of reporting K-Semiconductor Belt Strategies at the Pyeongtaek Campus on May 13 as Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Moon Sung-wook looks on. (Photo: Samsung Electronics)

Samsung Electronics, a global memory chip giant, aims to be the global No. 1 non-memory maker by 2030 by making a massive 171 trillion won investment in the system semiconductor sector, including foundry.

Samsung Electronics is accelerating strategies to leverage its expertise in the memory chip sector by dedicating Pyeongtaek Campus’s P3 Line in Gyeonggi-do, the world’s largest one, by the second half of next year.

Vice Chairman Kim Ki-nam, head of the Device Solution Business, revealed the plan to accelerate R&D and facility investments into foundry processes by investing 171 trillion won in the system semiconductor sector by 2030.

His announcement came during a session of reporting K-Semiconductor Belt Strategies at the Pyeongtaek Campus on May 13.

Dignitaries, including President Moon Jae-in, Samsung President Choi Si-young, head of the Foundry Business, and Minister Moon Sung-wook of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), participated in the session.

At the session, the government unveiled its K-Semiconductor strategies to build the world’s largest “semiconductor valley,” calling for Korean chip companies to invest a combined over 510 trillion won, and offering a 50 percent tax exemption in R&D outlays, among others.

The 171 trillion won Samsung Electronics will pour into the non-memory sector is more than the 133 trillion won the electronics giant pledged to invest in the system memory sector, including foundries, when it declared its vision for the system chip segment in April 2019.

Samsung Electronics’ plan, dubbed “System Semiconductor 2020 Vision,” envisages it being the global No. 1 maker of DRAMs and NAND flash memory chips, and No. 1 in the system semiconductor sector, including foundries, by 2030.

Samsung Electronics has been evaluated to have spurred collaboration among chip makers, fabless, raw materials, parts and equipment companies, core segments of the supply chain, academia and other components of the Korean semiconductor ecosystem for the past two years following the declaration of the vision.

The situation is not rosy, as Samsung Electronics still lags behind TSMC of Taiwan, the world’s No. 1 foundry maker.

The market research group TransForce reported that TSMC placed first with a sweeping 54 percent share in the global foundry market, followed by Samsung Electronics with a 17 percent stake, or less than one-third of the former’s.

Meanwhile, TSMC decided to make a massive $100 billion investment in the next three years. The Taiwanese chipmaker is poised to invest big in expanding the number of plants in Arizona, the United States to at least six.

Of late, Intel of the United States, an integrated device manufacturer (IDM), announced an investment in the foundry sector, as it scurries to secure an upper hand in the global market.

Major countries such as the United States and some in Western Europe are moving to expand the global semiconductor supply chain and draw up chip self-sufficiency plans, putting pressure on Samsung Electronics.

Samsung Electronics’ investment plan may be construed as a double-strategy to not only comply with the government’s K-Semiconductor initiative, but also secure a vintage point over competing global chip makers amid a worsening shortage of chips facing industries.

In a related development, Samsung Electronics is considering investing $17 billion (20 trillion won) to build a new foundry plant in Austin, the United States.

Observers said Samsung Electronics is expected to come up with the investment plan prior to the upcoming Korean-U.S. summit talks, slated for May 21.

Samsung Electronics is accelerating its so-called “super unmatched supremacy” strategies in the domestic memory sector.

At the event, Vice Chairman Kim disclosed a plan to dedicate the Pyeongtaek Line 3 (P3) in the second half of next year and launch full-fledged production.

The P3 Line will stand at 700 meters in length, 1.75 times longer than the existing P2 Line, measuring 400 meters in length.

The P3 Line will be the biggest in the world, with a combined capacity of the size of 25 soccer stadiums. At the upcoming line, Samsung Electronics will produce semiconductors using the advanced process like 14-nano DRAMs employing the EUV technology and 5-nano logic chips.