Nearly W8tr earmarked for Vietnam as affiliates expand chip testing and substrate capacity
Samsung affiliates plan to invest a combined 12.26 trillion won ($9.15 billion) in chip operations, directing nearly 8 trillion won to Vietnam while expanding high-end production capacity in South Korea.
Samsung Electronics plans to invest 105.79 trillion Vietnamese dong ($4.09 billion) in memory chip testing facilities at Yen Binh Industrial Park in Thai Nguyen, northern Vietnam, according to an investment plan submitted to local authorities. The first production line is scheduled to start operations in the fourth quarter of 2027, with another planned for 2028.
The facilities will conduct final testing of DRAM and NAND flash chips packaged at Samsung's Cheonan plant in Korea. They will not manufacture wafers, meaning the investment expands overseas testing capacity rather than relocating chip fabrication.
The move could leave more capacity at Samsung's Korean sites for advanced memory products. Joo Seung-hwan, a professor at Inha University's Graduate School of Manufacturing Innovation, said the plan appeared aimed at keeping high-value products such as high-bandwidth memory in Cheonan and Onyang while shifting more conventional memory work to Vietnam. Samsung has not disclosed how testing volumes will be divided.
The project also draws heavily on locally generated earnings. Some 66.64 trillion dong, or about 63 percent of the investment, is to be financed through reinvested profits from Samsung's Vietnamese operations, making that portion dependent on future earnings.
The production split is more explicit at Samsung Electro-Mechanics, which announced plans on Sept. 29 to invest 6.78 trillion won in flip-chip ball grid array substrate capacity. Of that, 4.27 trillion won will go to Sejong and 2.51 trillion won to Vietnam.
The substrates connect high-performance processors to circuit boards and are in growing demand as AI servers require larger, more complex chip packages.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics plans to begin mass production at its expanded Sejong facility in September 2028, while its Vietnamese expansion targets completion and operation by June 2030. Sejong will focus on high-value, technically demanding products, while Vietnam will handle growing global orders. The distinction is not absolute, however, as the company already produces advanced substrates in Vietnam.
The expansion is backed by funding support and medium- to long-term purchase commitments from global customers, helping reduce upfront investment risks and secure demand for the additional capacity.
Vietnam also offers an established manufacturing base. Samsung Electronics has produced smartphones in Thai Nguyen since 2013 and has brought 103 Vietnamese engineers to its Cheonan and Onyang facilities for training in memory testing and equipment operation, according to industry sources.
Spreading production across borders could give Samsung greater flexibility if disruptions affect its Korean operations, though shipping packaged chips to Vietnam for testing adds logistics costs and requires closer coordination between sites.
The bigger question is how the expansion will affect Samsung's existing operations in Korea. While Samsung Electro-Mechanics is adding high-end capacity at home, it remains unclear whether Samsung Electronics' new testing lines in Vietnam will supplement domestic production or take over some of the work currently done in Korea.
"Expanding production facilities overseas and building a local semiconductor ecosystem are two different things," an industry source said.
"What matters is which materials and equipment can be sourced locally, and how far local suppliers can participate in the process. Without that foundation, Vietnam's role may remain limited to hosting additional production facilities."
yeeun@heraldcorp.com
