South Korea to Bolster Memory Chip Dominance
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South Korea to Bolster Memory Chip Dominance
- South Korea's memory chip output capacity is projected to increase by approximately 600,000 wafers per month by 2028, largely due to significant investments from Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc..
- These expansion efforts are part of a larger national investment plan, totaling around $880 billion, unveiled by President Lee Jae Myung in June 2026, aimed at maintaining South Korea's leadership in the global semiconductor market..
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South Korea is poised to significantly expand its lead in memory chip production over China in the coming years. This growth is primarily driven by aggressive domestic facility expansions by industry giants Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. The Bank of Korea anticipates that new chip plants scheduled to become operational by 2028 will boost the country’s output capacity by approximately 600,000 wafers per month.
This expansion is part of a broader national initiative. In June 2026, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung unveiled an $880 billion national investment plan encompassing semiconductors, AI data centers, and humanoid robotics, with a significant portion dedicated to reinforcing the country’s memory chip dominance. Samsung and SK Hynix are set to invest a combined 800 trillion won (about $518 billion) to construct four new memory chip fabrication plants in South Korea’s southwestern region, with the goal of doubling memory output within five years.. Additionally, an advanced chip-packaging cluster will be developed in the central region, backed by an 81 trillion won investment.
Despite these ambitious plans, some analysts express skepticism regarding the speed of capacity expansion. A Bank of America report and supply chain sources suggest that SK Hynix’s actual new capacity by 2028 might only reach one-sixth of its planned target, due to infrastructure and equipment bottlenecks. However, SK Hynix executives remain optimistic, with Chairman Chey Tae-won stating that customers demand a five-to-sixfold increase in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) supply, and CEO Kwak Noh-Jung predicting the most severe global memory market shortage in history by 2027..
Meanwhile, China’s leading memory maker, CXMT Corp., is also expanding its capacity. CXMT, which captured 10% of the global DRAM market revenue in the second quarter of 2026, plans to increase its monthly wafer capacity by over 250,000 by 2028, potentially reaching 550,000 to 600,000 wafers. While CXMT has begun small-scale production of HBM3E, an advanced memory used in AI chips, it is reportedly several years behind South Korean leaders in HBM technology and mass production.. Samsung and SK Hynix had already moved into HBM4 production and were supplying HBM4E samples to customers by mid-2026.. The global memory chip market is experiencing significant growth, with revenue projected to surge, driven by the increasing demand for AI infrastructure..