Samsung Semiconductor is a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, a $21 billion division of the $80 billion Korean-based Samsung Group. Samsung Semiconductor is the sixth largest semiconductor manufacturer and the leading producer of memory products in the world. Over the years, Samsung has established an impressive list of industry precedent-setting accomplishments, including the shipment of the first samples and production quantities of 16 and 64-megabit DRAMs and the first fully functional 256-megabit DRAM sample.

    Combined with its superior product design capabilities, Samsung is increasingly utilizing its high-volume production capacity and advanced process technology to expand the scope of its product offerings beyond memory devices. Samsung is now becoming a broad line supplier of ASICs, power devices, microcontrollers, multimedia solutions, and active matrix color liquid crystal displays.

    Samsung pioneered Korea's semiconductor industry when it began wafer processing in 1974. In 1983, Samsung Semiconductor Inc., established its U.S. headquarters in San Jose, the heart of California's Silicon Valley. Today, Samsung employs more than 400 people at that facility, and has announced plans to build a state-of-the-art semiconductor wafer fabrication plant in Austin, Texas in the United States. Samsung Semiconductor forms the technological base of Samsung Electronics by leading the research, development, and manufacturing efforts for many of the fundamental components used by the other sectors.