Samsung plans projects for next smartphone era

Samsung Electronics will invest €16.3bn in South Korea to extend its lead in memory chips and next-generation smartphone displays. This will create half a million jobs.

The investment underscores Samsung’s determination to widen its lead in memory chips, which are expected to propel Asia’s third most valuable company to record profit this year.

It routinely invests more than $10bn in chips annually, helping it stay ahead of competitors, such as Korean rival, SK Hynix, and Japan’s Toshiba. The announcement follows repeated calls from new South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, for big businesses to invest more domestically to create jobs.