Samsung’s and SK Hynix’s investment surged in the first half of 2018

The memory market continues to soar, driving the memory manufacturers to increase investment. In the first half of 2018, SK Hynix's investment scale has doubled every year, and Samsung Electronics also has increased its investment by about 1 trillion won (about 890 million dollars). What’s more, Samsung Electronics has refreshed Korean record with an research and development investment of nearly 9 trillion won(about 8 billion dollars). According to the Korean media News 1, the Semiconductor Division of Samsung Electronics totally carried out an investment of 13.34 trillion won (about 11.8 billion dollars) in the first half of 2018, an increase of about 1 trillion won over the same period in 2017. Similarly, SK Hynix invested 8.10 trillion won (about 7.16 billion dollars), almost twice as much as the same period in 2017 (4.97 trillion won). Thanks to the market's enthusiasm, the operating profit of Semiconductor Division in Samsung Electronics has soared from 14.34 trillion won ($12.7 billion) in the first half of 2017 to 23.16 trillion won(approximately $20.5 billion) in the first half of 2018, which suggested an increase of nearly 10 trillion won (about $8.85 billion).And the profitability of SK Hynix also increased from 5.52 trillion won ($4.9 billion) to 9.94 trillion won ( About $8.8 billion).

It’s reported in the second season of the Samsung Electronics’s law conference that the investment in the expansion of image sensor capacity, Huacheng DRAM 11 production line will be converted into a production, and that the target is to start volume production in the first half of 2019, despite the expansion scale will be adjusted according to customer demand. SK Hynix said that the Qingzhou M15 factory will be completed in the second half of 2018, and the investment in the second half of the year will have at least the same level in the first half of 2018. In 2019, the company will also invest in Wuxi factory in order to continue to expand its production capacity. The Korean media ET News reported that the research and development expenditure of Samsung Electronics in the first half of 2018 reached a record high, with a gold amount of 8.78 trillion won. Compared with the research and development investment of about 4 trillion won in 2011, 5 trillion won in 2012, and 7 trillion won per year in the first half of 2013~2017. Surprisingly in the first half of 2018, it exceeded 8 trillion won for the first time.

In 2017, Samsung Electronics invested about 16.81 trillion won in research and development expenditure, which is the highest annual research and development expenditure in the Korean industry. It is only in the second quarter of the year 2018 that the research and development expenditure has approached 9 trillion won. Therefore, the industry believes that the record is expected to be updated again.