The semiconductor industry's volatility was on display this week as Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) both made substantial financial announcement.

Samsung said it will spend $205 billion over the next three years to bolster its semiconductor and biotech businesses. That investment will go toward bolstering its electronics and biologics businesses as the company looks to increase its involvement in COVID-19 vaccine production and expand semiconductor production to better compete with rivals TSMC and Intel.

Approximately $146 billion of the funding will go toward developing advanced process technology and expanding Samsung’s foundry business to new applications in artificial intelligence (AI) and data center. This includes a focus on extreme ultra-violet lithography-based, sub-14-nanometer DRAM and high-density — 200-plus-layer — 3D NAND flash products.

Samsung also plans to increase research and development into telecommunications technologies to support its 5G product portfolio, network virtualization, and open network development initiatives.

Alongside a massive investment in semiconductor manufacturing, the funding will also support Samsung Biologics efforts to produce and package the COVID-19 vaccine. This will include building two new facilities for the purposes of contract manufacturing of vaccines and cellular gene therapy products, the company said.

The vast majority of the spending — $153 billion — will stay in South Korea and support the creation of 40,000 new jobs over the next three years, including the creation of 10,000 additional jobs, the foundry operator said in a statement. Beyond direct employment, the investment is expected to create 560,000 jobs in related industries and businesses.

While it appears Samsung may outspend rival TSMC, which plans to spend $100 billion over the next three years to expand its foundry operations, the South Korean conglomerate still has a long way to catch up, Wayne Lam, senior director of research for Americas at CCS Insight, said in an email to SDxCentral.

“Samsung’s foundry business is roughly a fifth that of TSMC, it’s not likely that this investment will immediately catapult them into the lead,” he wrote.

Some of the funding is expected to contribute to foundry operations in the U.S. A Bloomberg report from January found Samsung could spend north of $10 billion to bring its semiconductor manufacturing capabilities to Austin, Texas. The new plant would reportedly produce silicon wafers based on the company’s forthcoming 3-nanometer manufacturing process.

The scale of the initiative may have been influenced by the early release of Samsung leader Lee Jae-yong from prison, according to a recent The Wall Street Journal report. Jae-yong was sentenced to five years in prison for corruption in 2017, however that sentence was cut short by South Korea’s Justice Ministry earlier this year on “economic grounds,” the report found.

Meanwhile, TSMC this week warned customers prices could increase as much as 20%, according to Nikkei Asia.

The price hike comes amid a global semiconductor shortage and a post-pandemic surge in foundry capacity. The shortage has already resulted in extended lead times for manufacturers and forced several automakers to shutter plants.

Now it appears TSMC customers will have to wait longer and pay more for their chips. According to the Nikkei Asia report, the amount and timing of the price hikes differ from client to client.