Samsung Electronics to invest $7b to boost China NAND chip output

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China is trying to develop its own memory chip producers.

The firm accounted for 38.3 per cent of global NAND flash memory chip revenue in April-June, the latest data from researcher IHS showed.

Seoul: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd expects to invest $7 billion over the next three years to expand its NAND memory chip production in China’s northwestern city of Xi’an, the South Korean tech giant said on August 28.

In a regulatory filing Samsung said it approved $2.3 billion of the expected investment of $7 billion on August 28. In early July, when Samsung announced an investment of $18.6 billion in South Korea, it said it would add a production line at its NAND plant in Xi’an, but did not set an investment amount.

A Samsung Electronics spokesman declined to comment on the amount of capacity to be added by the approved or planned investment. The firm accounted for 38.3 per cent of global NAND flash memory chip revenue in April-June, the latest data from researcher IHS showed.

China is trying to develop its own memory chip producers but it is likely to be several years before they can compete with existing makers, analysts said. Samsung Electronics said a memory chip boom that propelled it to record profit in the second quarter was likely to continue in the July-to-September quarter.

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