Samsung Moves $9.15 Billion into Vietnam Chip Testing and Korean Substrate Lines

Samsung affiliates are committing a combined USD 9.15 billion to semiconductor operations spread across Vietnam and South Korea. In Vietnam, Samsung Electronics is planning a large memory testing complex, while high-end production capacity in Korea is also being expanded. The plans, disclosed in recent weeks, could change how memory and substrate work is divided between the company's two manufacturing bases.

A testing complex takes shape in Thai Nguyen

At the center of the Vietnam push, Samsung Electronics has submitted an investment plan to local authorities for memory chip testing facilities at Yen Binh Industrial Park in Thai Nguyen, a province in northern Vietnam.

The planned outlay of Vietnam is USD 4.09 billion. The timeline set out in the plan calls for the first production line to begin operations in the fourth quarter of 2027, with a second line to follow in 2028.

The facilities are designed to carry out final testing of DRAM and NAND flash chips that have been packaged at Samsung's Cheonan plant in Korea. No wafer manufacturing will take place at the Vietnamese site. In other words, the investment extends the company's overseas testing capacity rather than moving chip fabrication out of Korea. One notable feature of the financing structure: USD 2.57 trillion, roughly 63 percent of the total, is to be funded through profits reinvested from Samsung's Vietnamese operations. That means a majority of the project's funding depends on future earnings generated locally.

What the split means for Korean memory output

The Thai Nguyen project may free up room at Samsung's Korean sites for more advanced products. Joo Seung-hwan, a professor at Inha University's Graduate School of Manufacturing Innovation, said the plan appeared designed to keep high-value items such as high-bandwidth memory in Cheonan and Onyang, while moving a larger share of conventional memory work to Vietnam. Samsung has not said how testing volumes will be apportioned between the two countries, leaving open the practical balance of work.

Substrate investment split between Sejong and Vietnam

A clearer division of labor is visible at Samsung Electro-Mechanics, which announced that it will invest USD 5.09 Billion to expand capacity for flip-chip ball grid array substrates. Of that amount, 3.21 billion is allocated to Sejong in Korea and USD 1.88 billion to Vietnam. These substrates serve as the connection between high-performance processors and circuit boards, and demand for them is rising as AI servers call for larger and more complex chip packages.

The schedule differs by location. Mass production at the expanded Sejong facility is planned to start in September 2028, while the Vietnamese expansion is targeted for completion and operation by June 2030. Under the announced strategy, Sejong will concentrate on high-value, technically demanding products, while Vietnam will take on growing global orders.

That separation is not absolute, since the company already manufactures advanced substrates at its Vietnamese site. The investment is supported by funding assistance and medium- to long-term purchase commitments from global customers, an arrangement the company says lowers upfront investment risk and secures demand for the new capacity.

An established base to build on

Vietnam already functions as a major manufacturing base for the Korean group. Samsung Electronics has produced smartphones in Thai Nguyen since 2013, giving it more than a decade of operational experience in the province where the new testing lines will sit. Preparation for the memory testing work has also been underway on the personnel side.

According to industry sources, 103 Vietnamese engineers have traveled to Samsung's Cheonan and Onyang facilities for training in memory testing and equipment operation. Distributing production across borders may give Samsung additional flexibility if disruptions hit its Korean operations. The arrangement carries trade-offs as well: sending packaged chips to Vietnam for testing adds logistics costs and demands closer coordination between the sites.