Business Profile

Samsung's Semiconductor Business was founded in Korea with the acquisition of Hankook Semiconductor in 1974. Early operations consisted mostly of developing and mass producing ICs and peripherals for such consumer electronics as analog and LED watches, televisions, audio players and microwave ovens. The pivotal turning point in Samsung's evolution into a leading semiconductor manufacturer was the successful development of the 64Kb DRAM in 1983, and the subsequent opening of the Giheung Semiconductor Complex and Samsung's first memory fabrication facility in 1984.

Through a strategy of aggressive growth, Samsung has held market leadership positions in Memory since 1993, and in NAND Flash since 2003. In 2001, the company signaled a long commitment to logic and analog chip development with the expansion of its System LSI Division and the opening of its SoC Research Lab. In 2004, Samsung's Hard Disk Drive Division was combined with its Semiconductor Business.


Semiconductor Business Divisions 
The Semiconductor Business of Samsung Electronics, based in Giheung, Korea, consists of three major divisions: Memory, System LSI and Storage Systems. It has pioneered numerous advancements in chip technology that are now widely used in mobile, desktop and other digital consumer products. 


Manufacturing Facilities 
The Semiconductor Business has 14 front-end production facilities around the world. Semiconductor fabs are located in Giheung and Hwaseong, Korea (near Seoul), and in Austin, Texas. The company also operates IC assembly plants in Onyang, Korea and Suzhou, China. A key benefit of Samsung's semiconductor strategy is the flexibility to shift production between manufacturing facilities in anticipation of changing market demands. This helps to insulate Samsung from declining market dynamics and to stabilize its operating margins.
Samsung also operates state-of-the-art Class-10 hard-drive manufacturing facilities in Gumi, Korea. The Gumi plant boasts the highest quality production, with automation that enables rapid adaptation to future technologies.


R&D Commitment 
Investment in R&D facilities is a high priority today and will continue to be so in the future. Of the company's 34,000 employees based in Korea, over 30% have work duties dedicated to research and development. The Semiconductor Business also conducts research in San Jose, California and Austin, Texas (United States), Suzhou (China), Yokohama (Japan), Moscow (Russia), Bangalore (India), and Tel Aviv (Israel). In 2009, Samsung Electronics as a whole invested US$6.2 billion in R&D - around 8.1 percent of its annual sales. As a result, Samsung Electronics has been able to maintain its 2nd place position in registered US patents – reaching 3,611 in 2009.