SEOUL: Samsung Electronics will invest nearly $18 billion in its chip business, the South Korean firm said Tuesday, as it seeks to expand its lead in the global memory chip and smartphone markets. The world's top maker of smartphones and memory chips will invest 20.4 trillion won ($17.7 billion) by 2021 to expand and upgrade its chip plants in the South Korean cities of Pyeongtaek and Hwaseong, it said in a statement. Samsung -- which accounted for more than 40 percent of global memory chip sales in the first quarter of this year -- posted in April its biggest quarterly net profit in more than three years. Average prices for DRAM chips used in PCs and servers, and NAND flash chips used in handsets are expected to jump 53 percent and 28 percent respectively this year, according to market researcher IC Insights. The announcement also came after newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-In set tackling rising unemployment as his top priority.

Source: Economic Times July 04, 2017 04:41 UTC