Samsung and SK hynix Expand Capacity to Counter China
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are building multiple fabrication plants in South Korea to regain conventional DRAM market share from Chinese competitors.
South Korean semiconductor leaders Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are aggressively expanding their memory chip production capacity to reclaim market share from Chinese rivals, specifically ChangXin Memory Technologies. The move follows a strategic shift where South Korean firms prioritized high-margin AI memory, creating a 30-40 percent shortage in lower-priced, conventional DRAM chips that Chinese manufacturers utilized to grow their market presence.
To address this gap, SK hynix plans to construct four fabrication plants at its Yongin semiconductor cluster. Samsung is planning six plants at a separate Yongin complex and is further expanding its Pyeongtaek campus. These investments aim to serve both the high-end AI sector and price-sensitive market segments.
Kim Hyung-joon of the Next Generation Intelligence Semiconductor Foundation noted that the conventional memory cycle has fundamentally changed. While the planned fabs could lift output severalfold, he warned that the market could face oversupply and falling prices if AI demand fails to keep pace with the increased capacity.
