Samsung is planning to invest $2.6 billion to boost production of NAND flash memory chips next year. Earlier this year, the Korean electronics giant already announced it would invest $6.4 billion, bringing the total investment in NAND production to $9 billion.
The company makes the investment to anticipate on the release of new Apple products in the third quarter of this year. Apple normally introduces revisions of its products in September which means many Apple fans will be in the market for a new device. New devices usually come with higher storage capacities contributing to an even bigger demand for NAND flash memory chips.
Demand of NAND flash memory is already unprecedented, besides the increased usage of flash storage in smartphones, also SSDs are rapidly gaining popularity. Samsung will likely mainly use the investments to expand manufacturing capacity of 3D NAND in its Pyeongtaek plant in Korea and the Xi'an plant in China.
For consumers the increase of production is positive, it will prevent shortages of NAND flash memory chips which would drive up the price. If all NAND flash memory manufacturers will ramp up production, supply might even outpace demand which could result in lower prices.
