Samsung is planning to install fab equipment on its new advanced fab P3 at its Pyeongtaek plant early in May, TheElec has learned.
The company is aiming to complete the construction of the fab within the second half of this year. In preparation, Samsung will be placing and installing equipment at the fab up to July. This schedule is a month behind what the tech giant initially planned for.
Samsung will first place and install fab equipment for NAND flash memory production in the first week of May, sources said.
Construction for P3 started in mid-2020 on 700,000 meter-square of land __ making it the world’s largest fab by area and 1.7 times larger than P2.
Samsung is expected to spend between at least 30 trillion won and almost 50 trillion won on P3 over the coming years.
P3 is a mixed fab that will manufacture both memory and logic chips. It will manufacture 10nm DRAM made with extreme ultraviolet (EUV) process and Gen 7 176-layer V-NAND. It will also manufacture 3nm with EUV foundry for logic customers.
The NAND flash line will be built first, followed by DRAM then foundry, the sources said.
When P3 starts mass production next month, it will take up three of the six factory lands available at the Pyeongtaek plant.
Samsung is expected to build P4 after P3 at Pyeongtaek. It is also planning to build another foundry fab with 20 trillion won in the US.
Fab equipment makers are expected to see their earnings increase during the second quarter. The equipment they supply is accounted for as sales when they are installed.
According to IC Insights, fab equipment spending is expected to reach US$190.4 billion this year, up 24% from the previous year.
Samsung spent 43.6 trillion won on its semiconductor facilities last year, its highest-spending figure to date, and is expected to spend level a amount this year.
