To Solidify Competitive Advantage

Samsung Electronics’ capital expenditures in the semiconductor sector from 2017 to this year are about 53 percent larger than Intel’s. 

Market research firm IC Insights reported that Samsung Electronics’ capital expenditures in the semiconductor sector from 2017 to this year are estimated at US$65.8 billion and the value is about 53 percent larger than Intel’s and around 200 percent of the combined capital expenditures of all Chinese semiconductor companies.

“Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor sales for the same period are estimated at 226 trillion won, close to Intel’s estimated at 227 trillion won, and Samsung Electronics’ large investment means that it is trying to compete better with TSMC in the non-memory sector while leaving Chinese startups far behind in the memory sector,” the firm explained.

Samsung Electronics recently announced that most of its investment for the fourth quarter of this year would go to infrastructure in the memory sector to respond to mid- to long-term demands and its EUV 7-nm output would continue to increase in the interest of foundry competitiveness.

Under the circumstances, the combined capital expenditures of Samsung Electronics, Intel, TSMC, SK Hynix and Micron Technology are expected to account for an all-time high of 68 percent of the industry total. The ratio stood at 25 percent in 1994, topped 50 percent in 2010, and reached 67 percent in 2013 and 2018.

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