Samsung to spend $360bn to boost semiconductor and biopharmaceutical businesses

The South Korean company aims to generate 80,000 new jobs through 2026

Samsung, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, accounted for almost a quarter of the global smartphone market in the January-March period. AFP

Samsung will spend 450 trillion won ($354 billion) over the next four years until 2026 to boost its semiconductor and biopharmaceutical businesses. The move comes as the technology major deals with Covid-induced supply chain disruptions and seeks ways to boost income.

Through the investment, the South Korean company aims to drive “long-term growth in strategic businesses and to strengthen the global industrial ecosystem” of crucial technology and innovation, it said in a statement.

The new investment, which will include capital expenditures and research and development spending, represents a jump of more than 30 per cent from the 330tn won spent in the past five years. Nearly 80 per cent of the capital will be invested in its home market, Samsung said.

Along with the investment commitment, Samsung plans to generate 80,000 new jobs through 2026, or about 16,000 positions annually. This outpaces its previous goal of creating 40,000 jobs between 2021 and 2023.

The new jobs will be created primarily in core businesses, including semiconductors and biopharmaceuticals.

In semiconductors, the company plans to boost its investment in memory chips to “solidify its global leadership and strengthen research of new materials”.

It will focus on the areas of “high-performance, low-power application processors, next-generation telecommunication chips and high-resolution image sensors”, the statement said.

In the 2021 financial year, Samsung, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, posted a 43 per cent rise in operating profit to 51.63tn won. This came as revenue rose 18 per cent to a record 279.6tn won, mainly because of its booming semiconductor business.

In biopharmaceuticals, Samsung Biologics and Samsung Bioepis will invest “aggressively in expanding the contract manufacturing capacity and broadening the biosimilar product pipeline”.

Samsung accounted for almost a quarter of the global smartphone market in the January-March period, up from 22 per cent in the same period a year ago, Singapore-based Canalys said in its first smartphone Market Pulse report for 2022.