Semiconductor equipment investment to be expanded up to 27%... ‘3D NAND Korea to lead’
Park Seul Gee | seul@ | 2017-02-17 10:23:47
The domestic semiconductor industry is trying hard to take the lead in the 3D NAND flash market by increasing its equipment investment by 30% this year to secure technological advantage over competitors with preemptive large-scale investment.
According to Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) on February 16, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are expected to invest USD 14 billion (about 16 trillion won) in semiconductor equipment this year. This is a 27.3 percent increase over last year``s USD 11 billion in semiconductor equipment investment. In particular, Samsung Electronics is expected to invest up to USD 10 billion (about 11.4 trillion won) in semiconductor equipment, up 25 percent from last year. SK Hynix has also announced that the firm is planning to invest 7 trillion won this year, and will spend about USD 4 billion (4.6 trillion won) on semiconductor equipment alone.
Semiconductor investment of Korea is the largest in the world. Intel Co., Ltd in the USA, which is a leader in system semiconductors, plans to invest in semiconductor equipment worth USD 5 billion, up 67% from last year. However, semiconductor companies are likely to reduce equipment investment comparing to last year. TSMC CO., LTD of Taiwan, the world``s largest foundry maker, Micron in the USA and SMIC, the largest foundry maker of China, have cut hundreds of millions of dollars in investment.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are to aggressively invest more in 3D NAND flash than DRAM and expand their revenue portion. Both DRAM and NAND flash account for 6: 4 in DRAM sales and 7: 3 in Hynix Semiconductor, respectively. However, the firms are planning to increase profitability by differentiating 3D NAND, which is a high value-added product, by nearly half. NAND flash investment in the world is expected to increase more than 14% from USD 14 billion last year to USD 16 billion this year based on this strategy.
Samsung Electronics has already been mass-producing 64-unit NAND chips since last year, and plans to launch a high-capacity product that has realized 512Gb in the first quarter of this year. SK Hynix will also continue to expand its production of 48-stage 3D NAND, while at the same time, the firm plans to mass produce 72-stage 3D NAND from the second half of this year. According to SEMI, Hynix Semiconductor``s market share of DRAM and NAND flash market of Korea will be more than 70% and 45%, respectively.
A representative of Samsung Electronics said that ‘We are considering expanding production by adding additional investment to Pyeongtaek factory and China, as there is capacity in the 3D NAND as production base.’
By Park Seul Gee seul@
[ copyright ⓒ The Digitaltimes ]
According to Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) on February 16, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are expected to invest USD 14 billion (about 16 trillion won) in semiconductor equipment this year. This is a 27.3 percent increase over last year``s USD 11 billion in semiconductor equipment investment. In particular, Samsung Electronics is expected to invest up to USD 10 billion (about 11.4 trillion won) in semiconductor equipment, up 25 percent from last year. SK Hynix has also announced that the firm is planning to invest 7 trillion won this year, and will spend about USD 4 billion (4.6 trillion won) on semiconductor equipment alone.
Semiconductor investment of Korea is the largest in the world. Intel Co., Ltd in the USA, which is a leader in system semiconductors, plans to invest in semiconductor equipment worth USD 5 billion, up 67% from last year. However, semiconductor companies are likely to reduce equipment investment comparing to last year. TSMC CO., LTD of Taiwan, the world``s largest foundry maker, Micron in the USA and SMIC, the largest foundry maker of China, have cut hundreds of millions of dollars in investment.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are to aggressively invest more in 3D NAND flash than DRAM and expand their revenue portion. Both DRAM and NAND flash account for 6: 4 in DRAM sales and 7: 3 in Hynix Semiconductor, respectively. However, the firms are planning to increase profitability by differentiating 3D NAND, which is a high value-added product, by nearly half. NAND flash investment in the world is expected to increase more than 14% from USD 14 billion last year to USD 16 billion this year based on this strategy.
Samsung Electronics has already been mass-producing 64-unit NAND chips since last year, and plans to launch a high-capacity product that has realized 512Gb in the first quarter of this year. SK Hynix will also continue to expand its production of 48-stage 3D NAND, while at the same time, the firm plans to mass produce 72-stage 3D NAND from the second half of this year. According to SEMI, Hynix Semiconductor``s market share of DRAM and NAND flash market of Korea will be more than 70% and 45%, respectively.
A representative of Samsung Electronics said that ‘We are considering expanding production by adding additional investment to Pyeongtaek factory and China, as there is capacity in the 3D NAND as production base.’
By Park Seul Gee seul@