Samsung Electronics plans to expand its NAND flash production capacity in Pyeongtaek, Korea, reinforcing the company’s ability to meet demands from emerging technologies.

The company began construction of the new site last month, and mass production of V-NAND memory memory will start in the second half of 2021.

“The new investment reaffirms our commitment to sustain undisputed leadership in memory technologies, even in uncertain times,” said Cheol Choi, executive vice president of Memory Global Sales & Marketing at Samsung Electronics. “We will continue to serve the market with the most optimized solutions available, while contributing to growth of the overall IT industry and the economy in general.”

While the company did not disclose the investment amount, analysts said the range of investment would be between 7 trillion won ($5.70 billion) and 8 trillion won.

Samsung’s NAND flash production network extends from Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek in Korea to Xi’an, China. Established in 2015, Samsung’s Pyeongtaek Campus is a hub for next-generation memory technologies, consisting of two of the world’s largest-scale production lines.

Samsung has held the leadership position in NAND flash memory for the past 18 years, with one recent innovation being the industry-first sixth-generation (1xx-layer) V-NAND introduced last July.