Over the past few years, South Korean tech giant Samsung has often found itself in a non-dominant position in a range of markets in which it operates, and one of those is the memory chip market. Although the memory chip market contributes handsomely to the company’s income, it cannot be denied that it remains a highly unpredictable market. Hence, Samsung is now all set to make a massive bet on non-memory chips and get into a market that is expected to explode over the course of the next decade or so. According to reports, the company is all set to invest a jaw-dropping $116 billion in its non-memory chip manufacturing business over the course of the next 11 years, and it is believed that they want to challenge the biggest players in the said market like Qualcomm and TSMC.
The market for non-memory chips is going to be huge in the next decade for a variety for reasons, and perhaps two of the biggest factors that are expected to drive growth are the emergence of electric cars and the onset of more artificial intelligence-driven devices. Hence, it is not really a surprise that one of the world’s biggest chip makers has decided to enter this market. Semiconductor manufacturing firms all over the world are gearing up for a major fight for supremacy in this market, and the quantum of Samsung’s investment is ample proof that the company is going to be in the fight for the long run. The total investment is going to be allocated almost evenly towards research and development and actual manufacturing. In a statement, the company said, “The investment plan is expected to help the company to reach its goal of becoming the world leader in not only memory semiconductors but also logic chips by 2030.”
The company’s bullish bet on non-memory chip manufacturing is a part of its bigger play to offset its loss of dominance in some of its key product categories, including that of smartphones. Samsung’s smartphone sales have taken a nosedive over the past few years and the biggest reason behind it is the rise of Chinese brands like Oppo and Huawei among others. An analyst at HI Investment and Securities spoke about the company’s decision to invest in this venture and stated that market conditions will decide whether this turns out into a success or not.
