Samsung, SK Hynix to Spend $500 Billion Building More RAM Fabrication Capacity - PCMag

Samsung and SK Hynix, two of the world's largest memory chip manufacturers, have announced a joint investment of over 500 billion KRW (approximately $518 billion) to build four new memory fabrication ... Read original →

Samsung and SK Hynix’s $518B memory expansion is a high-stakes bet on sustained AI infrastructure demand. Technically, the new HBM packaging hub will pull advanced packaging ecosystems—like TSMC’s CoWoS—toward Korea, pressuring rivals to accelerate HBM3E development. Politically, Seoul’s push to decentralize investment to southwestern Korea enhances domestic supply chain resilience but doesn’t eliminate exposure: tighter U.S.-led export controls on EUV tools could delay ramp-up. Micron will likely counter with U.S. CHIPS Act-subsidized LPDDR5X capacity in Arizona, while Taiwan, China-based players may double down on mature-node DRAM for server modules. If global AI capex growth slips below 15% within 18 months, this overbuild risks triggering a sector-wide glut and price war, disproportionately hurting second-tier memory makers.