Industry sources spoke to the press and revealed that Samsung is planning to significantly increase its NAND flash memory capex. The South Korean electronics giant will invest about $6.4 billion this year, and the figure is expected to rise to about $9 billion in 2019. Among other things, Samsung will primarily focus on scaling up 3D NAND output at its Pyeongtaek, South Korea and Xian, China fabs.
Samsung will focus mainly on scaling up its 3D NAND chip output in Pyeongtaek, South Korea and Xian, China, according to the report. The industry leader's planned huge spending is believed to be an effort to defend its dominance in the market.
Meanwhile, with its recent announcement of its fifth-generation 3D NAND memory chips, Samsung will be at least two years ahead of its competitors in technology, the report indicated.
All major NAND flash makers plan to ramp up 3D NAND flash production capacity over the next couple of years. It seems the pendulum is going to swing the other way. NAND may get a lot cheaper in the near future if the market will indeed shift to an oversupply situation.
