Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest memory chipmaker, announced Monday
it will build a semiconductor plant in central China as part of its move to
diversify production.
The company said it will initially inject US$2.3
billion to build the plant in Xian, China. It added that up to $7.0 billion
could be poured into the project in the coming years, making the plant Samsung's
single largest overseas semiconductor investment endeavor. The move was approved
by the company's board of directors earlier in the day.
Samsung said
it selected Xian because it has good industrial and information technology
infrastructures. Such an environment, it said, will allow the electronics giant
to gain easy access to electricity and water, and makes it possible to work with
related companies on research and development.
The urban setting can
also help recruit talented employees, the company said.
Construction
of the plant should start within the year with 10 nano-level NAND flash memory
chips to be produced from late 2013 onwards, Samsung said.
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