Samsung’s 360-Trillion-Won Yongin Build Anchors Global Fab Expansion

By Nathan Brooks

Samsung Electronics plans to invest about 360 trillion won in six fabs at its Yongin complex in Gyeonggi Province and targets October 2029 for the first production line to begin operations.

The buildout spans South Korea and Texas. It pairs high-bandwidth memory expansion in Pyeongtaek, including HBM4, with planned foundry capacity at Giheung and Taylor, a new Yongin manufacturing base and a research platform for future process work. Beyond the operating NRD-K research line, most dated milestones remain company targets. The announcement provides investment totals and target dates, but no wafer-capacity or revenue figures.

Why is Giheung becoming a foundry hub?

Samsung had pursued two research and office buildings on the former site of the Institute of Technology, known as SR5, at its Giheung facility. As high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and server DRAM demand rose, speculation pointed toward a DRAM line. After reconsidering how to allocate research facilities and production lines on the constrained site, Samsung chose foundry as the initial focus of Kairos, its new semiconductor production-facility project.

SR5, founded in 1987, supported Samsung’s development of the world’s first 64-megabit (Mb) DRAM in 1992. After production expanded to Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek, Giheung concentrated on next-generation semiconductor R&D. Samsung began demolishing the SR5 and Samsung Electronics College of Engineering (CDI) buildings in September 2025.

Semiconductor analysts said the foundry-first decision reflects South Korea’s need to expand advanced-process capacity proactively as AI-chip orders rise. On its third-quarter 2026 earnings conference call, Samsung said demand for AI and high-performance computing chips outpaced leading-edge capacity expansion. The company also said it would increase investment in new fabs at home and abroad.

A semiconductor industry official said: “Samsung Electronics is expanding memory and foundry production facilities together at key locations at home and abroad. With demand for AI semiconductors rising rapidly, securing a production base that can respond to market changes will determine the company’s competitiveness going forward.”

What is Samsung building at Giheung?

Construction is already under way on NRD-K, a next-generation integrated semiconductor research and development complex. Samsung completed its first research line and began operations in December 2024.

The complex occupies about 109,000 square meters, or 33,000 pyeong. Samsung expects to invest a total of 20 trillion won at the site by 2030. NRD-K will conduct next-generation research and product development across memory, System LSI and foundry. It will also test how research results translate into mass-production processes, making this an R&D commitment rather than a disclosed wafer-capacity addition.

NRD-K will use high-resolution extreme-ultraviolet lithography systems and deposition equipment for new materials. Researchers there will develop next-generation processes and materials. Separately, Samsung has left open the option of converting Kairos into a memory production line later.

When do the fab additions arrive?

At Pyeongtaek Plant 4, Samsung is expanding production lines for 10-nanometer-class sixth-generation (1c) DRAM used in HBM4. Samsung is also building Plant 5 and targets 2028 for its first fab to begin operations and 2029 for the second. The announcement gives no wafer-capacity figure, so the process and product specifications do not indicate output volume.

The planned 360-trillion-won Yongin program will build six fabs in phases at the Advanced System Semiconductor National Industrial Complex in Cheoin District. Samsung targets October 2029 for the first production line, making Yongin the largest stated investment in this expansion.

Taylor, Texas, is Samsung’s U.S. advanced-foundry hub. The first fab has begun operating its cleanroom, received equipment and started construction of its production line. Samsung plans to break ground on a second fab in 2026 and begin production in 2030.

The Taylor facilities center on a 2-nanometer process; one nanometer equals one-billionth of a meter. They will produce chips for AI and high-performance computing, among other applications, and Samsung is working to secure local customers. The announcement provides neither a production-start date nor customer volume for the first Taylor fab.

The portfolio now combines planned HBM4 capacity in Pyeongtaek, foundry development at Giheung and Taylor, new output at Yongin and process research at NRD-K. The practical point is not the map. It is the schedule.

If Samsung meets its 2028-30 targets, HBM4 and 2nm output should arrive while AI and high-performance computing demand remains strong. The competitive test is whether Samsung turns that announced capacity into qualified volume quickly enough to keep buyers from turning to rivals.