Samsung is well known for investing in new technology ahead of the curve, with recent successes in LCD flat screen TVs, computer memory chips and Flash chips.

Now the Korean conglomerate is looking towards logic chips and OLED displays as it announces its investment plans for the year ahead.

Samsung Group, including Samsung Electronics, has revealed the record breaking rise in its planned 2012 investment to $41.4 billion (47.8 trillion won).

Investments are to be made in new factories, research and development

Full staff

"Samsung's got strong cash flow to make bold bets in new technologies," said Lee Sun-tae, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities.

"No other IT company can beat it in terms of investment and that's how Samsung finds new revenue sources ahead of rivals and widens its gap."

It's also been reported that, despite the global level of financial problems some companies facing, Samsung is intending to increase its staff numbers by 26,000, adding to the existing 350,000 employees currently on its books.

OLED by example

A total amount of 31 trillion won ($27 billion) of the investment will be capital spending, up by 11 percent from the previous year.

Around 80 percent of that capital spending (25 trillion won, $21 billion) will be spent by Samsung Electronics.

It's thought by analysts that this money will mainly be spent on boosting its capacity to make system chip and OLEDs.

Samsung US recently revealed it will be raising $1 billion in bonds to increase capacity at its Austin, Texas facility.

Also predicted is that spending on mobile processors and chips used in smartphones, tablets and cameras will, for the first time, rise above spending on memory chips, up to 7.5 trillion won (about $6.5 billion).

OLED investment will rise to 7 trillion won ($6 billion) from 2011's 5 trillion ($4 billion), with the rest to be spent on LCDs, rechargeable batteries and LEDs.

According to research from DisplaySearch, Samsung are due for revenues from OLED displays of over $20 billion by 2018, accounting for up to 16 percent of the display industry.

Go compare

This record breaking investment comes as LG cuts its 2012 investment by $3 billion dollars.

The combined investments of Japanese firms Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi and Sharp reached 1.3 trillion yen ($16.6 billion) in the current fiscal year, less than Samsung Group's total global capital spending (27.9 trillion won, $24 billion) in 2011.

[source: Reuters]