According to the latest report, the completion of Pyeongtaek 3rd plant (P3) is about to finish. Samsung is expected to finish it this year.
To process continuously changing, the P3 foundry line is being pushed back from the beginning of the fourth quarter to the end of the fourth quarter and from the end of the fourth quarter to the first quarter of next year.
To recall, the P3 is a new semiconductor factory that Samsung Electronics started construction in mid-2020. The building permit area is 700,000 square meters, which is the largest in the world based on a single factory. Line construction is in order of NAND flash, DRAM, and foundry.
Initially, Samsung Electronics set a goal to complete the entire P3 plant, including the foundry line, within this year. However, since the time of clean room construction and equipment introduction from the previous NAND line was delayed by about a month, it became inevitable to adjust the schedule for subsequent lines.
However, considering Samsung Electronics’ recent line construction speed, this schedule is likely to be delayed again. From the end of last month, Samsung Electronics started introducing equipment necessary for clean room construction, such as CCSS, to the P3 foundry line. The equipment will be set up by the end of this year.
Accordingly, it is expected that the first quarter of next year will be the earliest at the earliest to introduce auxiliary facilities and manufacturing equipment to be built after the clean room construction of the P3 foundry line. An industry official said, “I understand that the start of construction has been delayed as a result of the delay of some front-end equipment by 2-3 months from the first half of this year.” It is a situation that has no choice but to postpone.”
In response, a Samsung Electronics official said, “There is no change in particular regarding the existing P3 construction start plan.”