Samsung Selects City for China NAND Flash Fab
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. said it is planning to build its NAND flash fab in China in the city of Xi’an. On April 2, 2012, Samsung approved the investment for establishing the fab in China at a cost of $2.3 billion. That figure is part of the total investment amount of $7 billion to be invested over the next several years.
The company is considering establishing a 10nm-class NAND Flash memory production line in Xi’an, China to meet growing market demand for NAND products.
Xi’an, the capital of the Shaanxi province, is famous for the “Terracotta Army” site. This is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China.
Samsung ”selected Xian because the city has sound industrial infrastructure such as water and electricity supply and can supply a talented workforce,” according to The Korea Herald, a newspaper and Web site. ”The city has a number of universities and research and development centers for IT firms.”
Last December, Samsung said it applied for the Korean government’s approval for establishing a NAND fab in China, but it did not announce the exact site. The idea behind the fab is to mass produce NAND products at 20 nanometer-class or below, according to Samsung. The company aims to start building the production line in 2012 and begin operation in 2013. The company plans to invest between 4 trillion won ($3.5 billion) and 5 trillion won on the fab, according to reports.
In 2012, Samsung’s capital expenditures are forecast to amount to 25 trillion won ($22.3 billion), in which 15 trillion won ($13.39 billion) will be invested in the semiconductor business.
