Samsung Electronics said it will sharply increase capital expenditures (CAPEX) for memory semiconductor equipment from a year earlier to meet growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI).
Samsung Electronics said on the 29th during its 2025 fourth-quarter earnings conference call, "As we expect memory demand linked to AI to continue, we are planning a significant year-over-year increase in capital spending." It added, "We have secured new production facilities and cleanroom space through preemptive investments. Equipment investment to utilize this space is set to increase," and said, "From the standpoint of responding to short-term supply expansion, we believe we can secure a competitive position in the industry."
On strategy for investments in new production facilities (fabs), it said, "In preparation for the possibility that strong AI demand will persist over the long term, we have secured new production space and cleanrooms," adding, "We plan to operate by swiftly executing equipment investments when it becomes necessary to ramp up production after we monitor demand trends."
On the creation of NRD-K, a next-generation research and development (R&D) facility, it said, "It is an independent research complex aimed at providing advanced infrastructure so that everything from fundamental technology research to product development can take place in one location," adding, "We opened phase one in the second quarter last year and began operations. We will continue expanding this facility to further strengthen our advanced process development capabilities."
Samsung Electronics also said, "In AI applications, a representative growth market, securing high-performance, high-capacity products is essential," adding, "We expect securing advanced process nodes to realize the technical requirements (needs) will become very important in both DRAM and NAND flash." It added, "This year, we will expand advanced process capacity, focusing on the 1c-nanometer process for DRAM and the V9 process for NAND."