Samsung Electronics recently announced plans to build a new chip hub in Gyeonggi province, Korea, with an aim of enhancing its chip-making capabilities in quality and quantity over the next 20 years, the CNN reported on March 15. The company plans to invest about US$230 billion over 20 years in building this mega chip-making cluster, which will comprise of five new chip factories. In addition, the giant also plans to establish a new semiconductor R&D center in Japan, the Korea Economic Daily reported in March 15. By merging its two R&D facilities in Yokohama and Osaka, the new center, named DSRJ (Device Solution Research Japan), will focus on the development of LSI (Large Scale Integration) chips such as image sensors, APs (Application Processors), and modems. The company aims to strengthen its R&D capabilities to meet the growing demand for semiconductors across various industries, including AI (Artificial Intelligence), autonomous vehicles, and 5G communications.
According to Taiwan-based MIC (Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute), shipment value of the Taiwanese IC manufacturing industry, led by TSMC, exceeded US$22.7 billion in the third quarter of 2022, representing 4.6% sequential and 22.8% year-on-year growth. Despite some negative factors like the decline in demand for mature process chips such as display driver ICs and power management ICs and a significant decline in capacity utilization, the industry was still able to achieve sequential growth in the third quarter of 2022, albeit at a slower rate.