Samsung Electronics, Intel of the United States, and TSMC of Taiwan are generally regarded as the world's big three semiconductor chip makers. Samsung has an unrivaled presence in the area of memory chips like DRAM and NAND flash memory chips.
Intel is the world's largest non-memory chip supplier with focus on microprocessors. In the overall chip maker ranking, Intel stays ahead of Samsung, ranking No. 1. TSMC is the world's largest foundry supplier.
The world's top-three chip companies are taking different paths this year in terms of investment in plants and equipment. According to the TrendForce report on February 10, Samsung plans to inject US$11.5 billion in capacity expansion into its semiconductor business this year, down 15 percent from last year's $13.5 billion. In contrast, Intel plans to spend $9.5 billion for facilities this year, increasing the amount of its capacity investment by about 30 percent compared to a year ago.
TSMC also intends to increase its capacity expansion investment by 17 percent from $8.1 billion last year to $9.5 billion this year. Although Samsung plans to reduce its investment this year, it still stays ahead of Intel and TSMC in terms of overall facility investment volume.
