Samsung Elec considers building chip packaging plant, Korea Economic Daily says (updated)

Samsung Electronics Co

Wed 05:31

Adds SK Hynix's plan in third bullet and SK Hynix's statement in fourth bullet

    SEOUL, June 9 (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics 005930.KS is considering the construction of an advanced semiconductor packaging facility in the southwestern South Korean city of Gwangju, the Korea Economic Daily said on Tuesday. 
Here are some details: 
Samsung is expected to unveil the investment plan at a meeting between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and the heads of the country's largest conglomerates on June 29, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed industry sources.
The meeting, to be held at the presidential office under the theme of a "major shift in growth strategy," is expected to include Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won.
Separately, SK Hynix 000660.KS is also considering building a new chip packaging production facility in the southwestern region, particularly in South Jeolla Province, daily newspaper Dong-a reported on Wednesday.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix declined to comment. The presidential office said corporate investment decisions are matters for companies to determine.
The move would mark one of Samsung's latest efforts to strengthen its advanced chip packaging capabilities, a critical part of the AI chip supply chain as demand surges for high-bandwidth memory chips used in AI servers.
The Korea Economic Daily said that Samsung's investment would be seen as a sign that the company is seeking to accelerate spending ahead of what many expect to be an upswing in the chip sector driven by AI demand.
Advanced packaging has become increasingly important as chipmakers seek to improve performance by integrating multiple chips into a single package. Demand has been particularly strong for HBM, which stacks multiple DRAM chips vertically and is used alongside AI processors from companies such as Nvidia NVDA.O.
Samsung's customers include major AI players such as Nvidia NVDA.O, AMD AMD.O and Google GOOGL.O, which are driving demand for advanced memory chips used in AI servers and processors.
Samsung has been expanding its presence in the HBM market as it seeks to challenge market leader SK Hynix 000660.KS. In May, the company said it had begun shipping samples of its latest HBM chip, the 12-layer HBM4E, to customers.

(Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by David Holmes and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
((Heekyong.Yang@thomsonreuters.com;))