According to a report in the Chinese media, Samsung is reportedly planning to invest an additional $8 billion in its Xian memory plant in China. This is in response to a projected increase in demand for memory chips, the report says. The company’s headquarter, however, declined to confirm the investment plan when contacted by the Korean media.
The decision to invest was supposedly communicated by a Samsung Semiconductor executive to Wang Hao, the communist party secretary of Xian, during a meeting on Tuesday. After a couple of years of stellar growth, the company’s semiconductor business has suffered setbacks in recent quarters due to slowing demand, throwing its investment plans into disarray.
The Korean tech giant has already invested $7 billion to build a second memory plant in Xian. If the new proposal materializes, the company will spend an additional $8 billion, bringing the total investment to $15 billion for its chip manufacturing facility in Xian. Samsung started mass producing its first-generation V-NAND chips at its first Xian plant back in 2014. Later, it decided to go for a second plant in the same region to address the growing demand in China.
Recently, there were reports of the Vietnamese Prime Minister asking Samsung to set up a local chip manufacturing plant. There was, however, no commitment from Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman and the de facto chief of Samsung Electronics, at the time. The reports indicated that Samsung stands to benefit more by having its memory plants in China, where most of its demand originates.
