SEOUL (Dow Jones) -- Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest memory-chip and flat-screen television maker, said Monday it will spend a record KRW26 trillion ($22.53 billion) on manufacturing facilities and research and development this year to take advantage of improving global market conditions and solidify its leadership in the memory chip and liquid-crystal-display sectors.

South Korea's biggest company by market capitalization said it will spend a record KRW18 trillion ($15.60 billion) on capital spending, eclipsing a previous high of KRW10.7 trillion spent in 2006.
Around KRW11 trillion of the 2010 capital expenditure budget will be for the chip business, which will include the construction of a new line for dynamic random access memory, NAND flash memory and next-generation memory products.
Another KRW5 trillion will be used for its liquid crystal display business, including the construction of a new eighth-generation LCD line that will have a capacity of 70,000 panels per month.
Big jumps in capital spending are a mixed blessing for technology companies. They signal confidence in future demand but they also tend to shorten the period of time when manufacturers can reap high profits.