Lee Kun-hee’s big plan

Lee Kun-hee’s big plan

Samsung Electronics says it will invest record W43 tril. this year By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung Electronics is planning to invest a record 43.1 trillion won or $38 billion in order to strengthen its leadership in chips and flat-screens and even to expand into new businesses. It is also hiring 25,000 new employees. The investment is an increase of 18 percent from last year’s 36.5 trillion won, the company said Wednesday. Of the total, 29.9 trillion won is set for capital expenditure, while 12.1 trillion is earmarked for research and development (R&D). The mega investment plan came just two days after Chairman Lee Kun-hee said he was planning to spend big for the future. ``Samsung Electronics accounts for 25 percent of the combined capital expenditure of the top 600 companies,’’ said Rhee In-yong, the head of the company’s communication team, in a media briefing at its headquarters in southern Seoul. Samsung said it plans to invest 10.3 trillion won and 5.4 trillion won on chips and LCDs in 2011. The plan comes in stark contrast to top-tier overseas chip and LCD makers, which are hesitant to make technology upgrades. The firm is building a flat-screen facility in Suzhou, China at a cost of 2.6 trillion won; upgrading its chip line in Texas, the United States; and will construct a new chip-producing line in Korea costing 12 trillion won. ``Samsung will invest 5.4 trillion won into advanced displays ― OLED ― with OLED-embedded consumer products such as smartphones and tablet PCs emerging as key money makers,’’ a senior executive told The Korea Times. On Jan. 3, Lee said his firm is under pressure to find its new growth engines. The OLED investment is triple that of last year’s 1.4 trillion won. Samsung puts the advanced panels onto its strategic Galaxy S smartphone, while its upcoming tablet PCs and media players will also feature the organic screens. Record hiring Samsung said it will hire 25,000 new employees for this year including 9,000 college graduates. Chief spokesman Rhee said the company needs more R&D-related staff to fuel momentum in new businesses. It will create a new large-scaled R&D center in its technology compound on the outskirts of Seoul. ``Samsung will expand the internship programs and we will pay for 4,000 interns who are in colleges,’’ said another spokesman. ``The ambitious plans reflect a strong appetite to widen the market gap with rivals in chips and LCDs. It seems quite evident that Lee just accepted investment calls from affiliates for those reasons,’’ said a high-ranking industry executive.

yckim@koreatimes.co.kr