Forecast to be announced on the 16th Korea Time
Subsidies expected to be $6 billion to $6.6 billion
Investment in the U.S. likely to increase to $44 billion
The 16th is expected to be a turning point for Samsung Electronics, which is fiercely competing with global companies for semiconductor supremacy. Samsung Electronics will announce a large-scale additional investment plan for semiconductor production facilities in the United States, and the U.S. Department of Commerce will reveal the amount of semiconductor subsidies to be provided to Samsung Electronics.
According to industry sources and foreign media on the 15th, Samsung Electronics will announce its local additional investment plan in the U.S. on that day. According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and others, the additional investment plan is expected to include a new semiconductor factory, packaging facilities, and a research and development (R&D) center in Taylor, Texas, as well as investments in new regions. If the additional plan is implemented, Samsung Electronics' total investment in the U.S. will increase to $44 billion (approximately 60.5 trillion KRW). Currently, Samsung Electronics is building a semiconductor factory in Taylor, Texas, with an investment of $17 billion (approximately 23.4 trillion KRW).
Samsung Electronics' additional investment plan is likely to be announced as a response to the U.S. government's subsidy payments. The U.S. Department of Commerce is also expected to announce the amount of semiconductor subsidies for Samsung Electronics as early as the same day. The subsidy is estimated to be between $6 billion (approximately 8.2 trillion KRW) and $6.6 billion (approximately 9 trillion KRW). Previously, Intel ($8.5 billion) and TSMC ($6.6 billion) received subsidies exceeding market expectations, and Samsung Electronics is also likely to surpass these estimates. Attention is also focused on whether the U.S. government will provide tax benefits along with the subsidies.
It is known that Samsung Electronics quickly announced its investment plan in conjunction with the subsidy announcement due to the recent intensifying competition among semiconductor companies in the U.S. It is also evaluated that Samsung Electronics made a bold move with rapid developments. The U.S. has effectively become the main stage for competition among semiconductor companies. Global companies like Samsung Electronics, which have received massive subsidies from the U.S. government, have already started investments commensurate with the support. TSMC, which received $6.6 billion in subsidies and a low-interest loan of $5 billion (approximately 6.925 trillion KRW), totaling $11.6 billion (approximately 16.066 trillion KRW), has significantly increased its U.S. investment from about $40 billion (approximately 53 trillion KRW) to $65 billion (approximately 89 trillion KRW). This is the largest amount of foreign direct investment in the U.S. It includes plans to expand semiconductor factories in the U.S. to six locations, including building a factory in Arizona by 2030.
Attention is also focused on the amount of subsidies to be provided to SK Hynix. SK Hynix plans to invest $3.87 billion (approximately 5.2 trillion KRW) in West Lafayette, Indiana, to build an advanced packaging production base and R&D facilities for artificial intelligence (AI) memory. This is SK Hynix's first semiconductor factory established in the U.S. The factory is expected to begin mass production of next-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and other AI memory products from the second half of 2028. SK Hynix has secured the factory site and is also reported to have applied for semiconductor production subsidies under the U.S. Semiconductor Support Act.
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