Samsung Raises Chungcheong Plan to 144T Won, HBM Share to 60T

Samsung raised its planned Chungcheong investment to 144 trillion won ($98 billion) from the 140 trillion won it announced in July, and Samsung Electronics' HBM share rose to 60 trillion won from 56 trillion won, Seoul Economic Daily reported on Nov. 12.

The Korea Times, covering the same Onyang groundbreaking, also gives 144 trillion won for Samsung and three affiliates, and the same 60 trillion won for Samsung Electronics across the Chungcheong provinces. Its dollar figure is $108.4 billion, against Seoul Economic Daily's $98 billion; the outlets used different exchange rates, so the won figures are the safer comparison. Voltgrid covered the ceremony itself, including the June 2028 start for the new Onyang line, as Voltgrid reported earlier on Nov. 12.

Only the HBM line grew

The other three affiliates held their July figures. Samsung Display is at 67 trillion won, Samsung SDI at 9 trillion won and Samsung Electro-Mechanics at 8 trillion won, according to Seoul Economic Daily and the Korea Times. The July plan, as The Herald Business reported on July 2 and Seoul Economic Daily on July 3, was 56 trillion won for Samsung Electronics, 67 trillion won for Display, 9 trillion won for SDI and 8 trillion won for Electro-Mechanics, which sums to 140 trillion won. The new split sums to 144 trillion won (60 + 67 + 8 + 9), so the whole 4 trillion won increase is the Samsung Electronics HBM line.

In July, The Herald Business gave the 56 trillion won as five HBM fab lines at Onyang plus HBM-related equipment and modernization at Cheonan. Seoul Economic Daily says the 60 trillion won now covers Onyang and Cheonan together, with an initial 6 trillion won for Line 5 at Onyang. Neither outlet says what the extra 4 trillion won buys.

What it means for HBM supply

HBM packaging, which joins stacked memory dies into modules that sit beside an accelerator, is where Samsung is adding capacity. Samsung told investors on Oct. 29 that its 2027 HBM supply is sold out at target prices, so a larger packaging budget bears on how much it can ship rather than on demand. The Korea Times puts 46 trillion won of the 60 trillion won at Onyang, with 6 trillion won for construction and 40 trillion won for equipment installed in stages. That leaves about 14 trillion won for Cheonan and other HBM spending, our arithmetic from the Korea Times figures, which neither outlet states.

The substrate side is also moving. Seoul Economic Daily says Samsung Electro-Mechanics will spend 8 trillion won at Sejong on AI-server package substrates, with a new plant targeting mass production in September 2028, and may buy more land to expand beyond its plan. Voltgrid has tracked the substrate unit's record quarter.

What is not confirmed yet

These are investment plans, not spending to date. Neither outlet gives a schedule for the 144 trillion won, an HBM output figure or a customer for the new capacity. Samsung's own release was not available to us, so the figures rest on Seoul Economic Daily and the Korea Times. The Herald Business gave $90.1 billion for the July 140 trillion won, a third rate, and we have not converted any figure ourselves.