SKorea's Samsung To Invest 24 Billion Dollars In New Chip Lines

TECH SPACE

The next generation of chips are ready for mass production.

Seoul, South Korea (AFP) Dec 06, 2004
South Korea's Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chipmaker, said Monday it will invest 24 billion dollars in new chip production lines over the next six years.

The plan was unveiled by Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-Hee at a meeting with Samsung Electronics executives to mark the firm's 30th anniversary in the semiconductor business.

"Pre-emptive investment is critical to success in the chip industry," Lee said in a statement announcing the 25 trillion won (24 billion dollars) investment in semiconductor chip production lines.

Lee said the semiconductor industry should continue to serve as a key "growth engine" for the South Korean economy, noting that adventurous investment has made microchips the nation's leading export item.

Chips accounted for 10 percent of South Korea's entire exports in the nine months to September, worth nearly 20 billion dollars.

Samsung Electronics was the world's second-largest maker of semiconductors - both memory and non-memory chips - in 2003, up from fourth in 1999, according to industry watcher Dataquest. It has been the world's leading DRAM (dynamic randon access memory) chipmaker for almost a decade.

The firm expects record sales for 2004, about 60 percent higher than in 2003 when revenue totalled 43.58 trillion won. It has a sales target of 200 trillion won by 2010.

The company said it expects its latest investment to create 10,000 new jobs.

Samsung aims to be a leader by 2007 in five growth sectors - mobile CPUs (central processing units), display processing chips, C-MOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) image sensors, memory chips for mobile equipment and integrated circuits.

It has said it will invest 4.97 trillion won in its semiconductor operations out of 5.77 trillion won in total capital spending earmarked for

"Sales are expected to be a record-high this year after jumping some 60 percent from 2003," said Hwang Chang-Gyu, chief executive officer of Samsung Electronics' semiconductor business.

Samsung Electronics entered the chipmaking business in 1974 when it bought a bankrupt local semiconductor firm.

Twenty years later it developed the world's first 256-megabyte DRAM chip. The South Korean firm has since kept its lead with technical breakthroughs and massive strategic investment programs.

Asia's most valuable technology firm accounts for nearly one-third of the total value of the South Korean stock market.

It remains the world's largest liquid crystal display-maker and the second-biggest mobile phone handset exporter.

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TECH SPACE

NIST Demonstrates Data Repair Kit For Quantum Computers

Gaithersburg MD (SPX) Dec 02, 2004
A practical method for automatically correcting data-handling errors in quantum computers has been developed and demonstrated by physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

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