Samsung Electronics says it is planning to invest at least US$18.6 billion to extend its lead in memory chips and next-generation smartphone displays. The plan could create almost half a million jobs in South Korea, Samsung claims.

The announcement follows repeated calls from new South Korean president Moon Jae-in for Korean big businesses to invest more domestically as part of a home-based job-creation agenda.

Analysts are predicting that Samsung will report its best-ever quarterly profit in Q2, with soaring memory chip sales pushing it past Intel as the biggest semiconductor maker by revenue.

With high demand for more features in smartphones and servers, along with rising semiconductor prices, memory makers overall are expected to post record profits