January 13, 2004 – Samsung Electronics Co. said it will spend $1 billion on a production line to boost its output of DRAM chips, part of an overall 2004 capex budget of $4.4 billion, according to a Reuters report.

The company also has promoted two of its semiconductor and LCD executives to vice-chairman. Samsung, which reported a 24% year-on-year increase in 4Q03 profits to $1.57 billion, said it expects to spend $4.4 billion in all of 2004 on its chip operations, with an additional $2.3 billion for new capacity in liquid-crystal displays — that’s up from nearly $6 billion overall in 2003.

The increased spending is part of an overall plan to increase sales to $10 billion in 2004, and capture 21% of the global chip market.