Samsung SK Hynix $520 billion chip plants South Korea 2026 - qz.com

South Korea plans to establish a new semiconductor manufacturing hub in the southwestern region to meet the surging demand for memory chips driven by artificial intelligence. Samsung Electronics and S... Read original →

South Korea’s push to build a semiconductor hub in its southwest is less about regional development and more a strategic sprint to capture AI-driven memory demand. Technically, Samsung and SK Hynix’s parallel expansions into HBM3E/HBM4 will force equipment vendors to accelerate EUV and hybrid bonding adoption, while pressuring Taiwan, China’s OSATs to migrate toward CoWoS-L. However, operating far from the established Gyeonggi supply chain could inflate wafer costs by over 10%. With U.S.-led export controls tightening, redundancy is essential—but local infrastructure gaps may erode government subsidy benefits. TSMC and Micron will likely hasten Arizona and Kumamoto ramp-ups to secure North American clients. If SK Hynix’s Nasdaq IPO falters within the next 18 months, it could trigger a KRW-denominated capex reassessment, destabilizing global memory supply forecasts.