Foreign investors pour billions into Vietnam's semiconductor sector

Foreign investors pour billions into Vietnam's semiconductor sector

Existing foreign investors have poured additional billions of dollars into semiconductor testing, packaging, and advanced materials production to meet the increasing demand for chips in data centres.

Photo: Samsung Electro-Mechanics

Samsung Electro-Mechanics, part of South Korean conglomerate Samsung Group, on September 29 said it plans to put $1.85 billion into expanding semiconductor packaging substrate production in Vietnam, meeting growing demand from AI server and high-performance processor markets.

This capital will be used to expand the flip-chip ball grid array (BGA) plant at the Vietnam subsidiary, which aims to complete construction and begin operations by June 2030. Through this, Samsung Electro-Mechanics will significantly expand its BGA production capacity both in South Korea and overseas.

"As the AI and high-performance computing markets grow rapidly, high-value semiconductor substrates are becoming increasingly important as key components that determine semiconductor performance and supply chain stability," said president Chang Duckhyun. "Based on differentiated substrate technology and stable supply capabilities, we will be able to strengthen the competitiveness of the BGA business in high-growth markets such as AI servers and automotive electronics."

The Vietnam subsidiary will operate as a strategic hub to meet global volume demand and enhance production efficiency through a stable supply system. With this expansion, Samsung Electro-Mechanics will respond to global customers' mid- to long-term volume expansion needs while further improving production efficiency and supply stability.

LG Innotek is also finalising procedures to build a semiconductor package substrate manufacturing plant worth $1 billion in Haiphong city, in the north of the country. The project received approval in July, marking LG Innotek's first semiconductor packaging substrate manufacturing facility outside of South Korea. The project is expected to begin trial production in the third quarter of 2027 and mass production in the mid-2028.

The new funding will expand LG Innotek's operations in Haiphong beyond camera modules into materials and components used in semiconductor packaging. The factory will specialise in producing semiconductor substrates, including radio frequency system-in-package, flip-chip scale package, and BGA substrates.

LG Innotek aims to increase revenue from its semiconductor packaging solutions business to almost $2 billion by 2030. The $1 billion in Haiphong forms part of its capacity expansion strategy as production lines at its Gumi substrate facilities are approaching full utilisation.

These investments are to meet the increasing demand for semiconductor substrates as the AI server and high-performance computing markets have grown rapidly. They are evolving to integrate chips for high-speed computation and large-scale data processing, and as a result, such plants are advancing towards large areas, high layer count, and highly integrated structures.

In early September, Universal Scientific Industrial Shanghai, a subsidiary of ASE Technology Holding, approved an additional $120 million investment in Haiphong, as the company expands into products serving data centres and AI.

The company is in the process of realising the target to build monthly production capacity of 100,000 optical transceiver modules using silicon photonics technology at the Haiphong plant, which the company announced last year.

“The production line is expected to include manufacturing integrated optical engines for high-speed data transmission modules, assembling optical transceiver modules, and conducting final testing. The plan is part of USI's strategy to expand its data centre business, covering server circuit boards and AI accelerator cards, optical engines, optical modules, and power solutions for AI servers,” the company announced.

Along with the new investment influx, the increase in funding in advanced materials production is shown by the surge in import turnover of electronic components.

According to the National Statistics Office, in September alone, import turnover of electronics, computers, and components reached $27.1 billion, a 93.7 per cent increase compared to September 2025. Total electronics imports for the nine months of the year thus far totalled $197 billion.

A total of 45 import categories each surpassed $1 billion in value during the nine-month period, representing 94.5 per cent of total imports, including six categories each exceeding $10 billion.

VIR