Samsung starts P3 production line operations three months ahead of schedule

According to Jiwei.com, the market has recently heard that Samsung Electronics plans to operate the Pyeongtaek factory P3 production line three months ahead of schedule to respond to the global chip shortage.

According to THE ELEC, Yoon Seong-jin, president of Samsung Electronics supplier EcoPro HN, said in a conference call on Tuesday that Samsung has asked the company to provide filter products by December this year, instead of the previously agreed deadline of early 2022.

Yoon Seong-jin said that due to the recent chip shortage, Samsung Electronics plans to start operating the P3 production line at its Pyeongtaek plant three months earlier.

Samsung Electronics plans to build a total of six chip production lines at its Pyeongtaek plant. Construction of the P3 chip production line began in the second half of last year, but the capacity and investment have not yet been announced.

People familiar with the matter said the production line is likely to be used to produce memory chips or foundry chips. P3 is expected to start operations in the first half of 2023. However, due to the current global chip shortage, this plan may be brought forward to early 2023 or even 2022.

Samsung was originally expected to announce its P3 investment plan earlier this year, but the plan was delayed due to the imprisonment of its vice chairman Lee Jae-yong, a person familiar with the matter said.

According to another source, Samsung has recently installed equipment from its research lab on the production line of its Hwaseong chip plant. Currently, the Korean chip industry is widely expected to expand its production capacity, from Samsung to suppliers. The industry predicts that the semiconductor industry's spending this year may be very large and is expected to occur soon.