Significant Growth
In 2022, Samsung Electronics’ investment reached a record high of about 53 trillion won. Of the amount, more than 90 percent was concentrated on the semiconductor sector alone.
According to a Samsung Electronics business report released on March 8, the Korean tech giant’s facility investment totaled 53.1153 trillion won (US$40.2459 billion) last year. It climbed by 10.1 percent from 48.2222 trillion won (US$36.5271 billion) the previous year, which was previously the highest-ever investment amount.
In 2022, Samsung Electronics invested 47.8717 trillion won (US$36.2728 billion), or 90.1 percent of the total facility investment, in expanding its semiconductor production facilities. In particular, it executed an investment of 18.7696 trillion won (US$14.2175 billion) in the fourth quarter of last year alone. This was due to a significant increase in investment in memory production, such as investment in the third and fourth lines in Pyeongtaek, Korea, analysts say. Although a slump has been deep in the world semiconductor industry, 39.2 percent of its semiconductor facility investment was concentrated on investment in the memory sector, which means that Samsung Electronics ramped up its investment in spite of headwinds from an economic recession.
Samsung Electronics has decided to maintain facility and R&D investments at a level similar to those in the past as well. To this end, it recently borrowed 20 trillion won (US$15 billion) from its subsidiary Samsung Display.
Samsung Electronics also significantly increased R&D investment in future growth drivers. In 2022, its R&D expenses totaled 24.9292 trillion won (US$18.8764), up 10.3 percent from the previous year. The percentage of its R&D expenses in its total sales also ascended from 8.1 percent in the previous year to 8.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the Americas, including the United States, are rapidly emerging as the largest sales region for Samsung Electronics. The Korean tech giant’s separate sales in the Americas in 2022 stood at 65.9617 trillion won (US$49.9462 billion), up 13 percent from the previous year. The proportion of its sales in the Americas in its total sales also reached 31.1 percent, up 1.9 percentage points from 29.2 percent in the previous year.
On the other hand, its sales in China descended by 8.4 percent from 59.7247 trillion won (US$45.2235 billion) to 54.6998 trillion won (US$41.4171 billion) over the same period. The percentage of its sales in China in its total sales contracted from 29.9 percent to 25.8 percent. Last year, Samsung Electronics had 30 subsidiaries in China, down from 33 in 2020.