Samsung Electronics Co. is accelerating the launch of its first semiconductor fabrication plant in Yongin to 2029, moving up the timeline by one to two years as demand for AI memory chips continues to surge. The company now plans to begin operations at the facility, located south of Seoul, in 2029 instead of the previously expected 2030-2031 timeframe. A Samsung spokesperson confirmed the company intends to start operations at the facility "one to two years" ahead of its original plan. The acceleration aligns with South Korea's broader strategy to double its memory chip production capacity within the next five years, supported by government measures to reduce regional economic disparities.

Financial Performance

The expansion strategy follows preliminary financial results for the April-to-June period, which underscore the strength of the semiconductor sector. Samsung estimated its operating profit for the second quarter at 10.44 trillion won, a staggering 1,800% increase from 0.67 trillion won a year earlier. Revenue rose to 74 trillion won, compared with 74.07 trillion won in the same period last year. These figures mark one of the company's strongest quarterly showings and a sharp turnaround from the prior year's performance.

AI Memory and Market Position

Samsung's chip division has been driving the vast majority of group profit, powered by an AI-fueled scramble for memory that has sent DRAM and NAND prices sharply higher. The company recently became the first in the world to surpass $1 billion in HBM4 revenue, according to Goldman Sachs. HBM (high-bandwidth memory) feeds Nvidia's AI accelerators. The market structure amplifies this trend, with Samsung, Micron Technology Inc., and South Korea's SK Hynix controlling roughly 85% of the memory market.

Valuation and Outlook

Goldman Sachs raised its 2026–2028 EPS estimates and kept its 12-month target of 480,000 won on the common shares, implying about 62% upside from the July 7 close. Despite printing record profit, the stock trades at about 5.3 times forward earnings, versus a long-run average near 14 times. The market is quietly pricing in that the boom fades, a fear rooted in memory's brutal history of boom-and-bust cycles. Ray Wang, principal analyst at Constellation Research, described structural demand with an 18-to-24-month order backlog, placing the AI buildout in only its "third inning."

Samsung Electronics has begun mass production of the PM1763, a PCIe 6.0-based enterprise solid-state drive (SSD) designed for next-generation AI and high-performance computing (HPC) server environments. The drive will be deployed in Nvidia Corp's upcoming Vera Rubin AI platform scheduled to launch later this year. This move positions Samsung to supply a broad range of memory technologies, including HBM4 memory and SOCAMM2 modules, for the AI infrastructure.

The PM1763 utilizes Samsung's 9th-generation V-NAND and a newly developed 4-nanometer (nm) controller to enhance performance and power efficiency. It addresses the growing need for high-speed data transfer in AI training and inference. The drive is available in 4-terabyte (TB), 8TB, and 16TB capacities. The 16TB configuration delivers sequential read and write speeds of up to 28,400 megabytes-per-second (MB/s) and 21,900 MB/s, respectively, which is more than double the performance of its predecessor, the PM1753.

Performance Specifications

The drive's performance allows for the transfer of a 40-gigabyte (GB) large language model (LLM) in approximately 1.4 seconds. This capability minimizes data latency between processors and accelerators, thereby improving overall AI processing efficiency.

Cooling and Efficiency

PM1763 is optimized for liquid-cooled server environments through direct-to-chip (D2C) cooling technology. This feature enables sustained peak performance under intensive workloads and extended operating conditions. Additionally, power efficiency has improved by more than 1.8 times compared to the previous model, which helps reduce overall datacenter operating costs.

Security Features

To meet growing security requirements in AI, Samsung has integrated post-quantum cryptography (PQC) algorithms into the PM1763 to protect against future quantum computing threats. The drive also supports the TEE Device Interface Security Protocol (TDISP), which secures data pathways in virtualized environments.

"Built on industry-leading performance, PM1763 has successfully completed validation for next-generation AI platforms and is well positioned to support evolving AI infrastructure requirements," said Jangseok Choi, Vice President and Head of Memory Product Planning at Samsung Electronics.