Chinese YMTC has been on a significant upswing, as confirmed by the global NAND Flash shipment market share tracker for the second quarter of this year. According to Counterpoint Research data, YMTC became the third-largest player in Q2, surpassing some of the biggest names in the industry. Leading the global NAND Flash shipment market share is Samsung, holding 25% of the market. In second place is SK hynix, along with its subsidiary Solidigm, commanding 22% of the market share. However, YMTC has claimed the third spot, with its bit shipments growing 22% year-over-year and 5% quarter-over-quarter, edging ahead of Micron, Kioxia, and Sandisk.

YMTC's rise to the third-largest player in the NAND Flash industry in Q2 is attributed to the substantial volume of shipments both domestically and internationally. YMTC's Xtacking 4.0 storage architecture is now in mass production with 267-layer 3D NAND, and the path to 300+ layer technology is anticipated for next year. This, combined with a high production volume, has allowed YMTC to surpass established names with ease. However, market share does not equate to revenue share. Despite ranking third in market share, YMTC only ranked fifth in revenue share among vendors. This is because YMTC is currently focusing on consumer electronics, while Micron, Kioxia, and other vendors concentrate on the more profitable enterprise server and AI sectors.

Samsung Foundry has been consistently upgrading its chip-making tools. However, despite the availability of the new generation of EUV lithography, the company has not yet committed to using High-NA EUV lithography tools from ASML. According to ZDNet Korea, this is expected to change with the development of Samsung's 1 nm node, scheduled for 2030. This will be one of the last introductions of High-NA EUV machinery across leading-edge semiconductor node designs. Intel is gradually scaling up its 14A node to risk production with High-NA EUV tools, while TSMC is expected to introduce it in 2029. Samsung being one of the last does not necessarily mean the company is in a rush, as it is currently performing well with the existing Low-NA EUV tools.

For reference, TSMC claims it can maintain a competitive advantage using the existing Low-NA EUV technology for now, scaling nodes down and introducing improvements with each generation. Low-NA tools are also half the price of the premier High-NA EUV systems. The most advanced High-NA EUV machine from ASML costs around $400 million, which is an incredibly expensive piece of machinery, even for a modern semiconductor fab. Hence, TSMC has refrained from using it for now as it can achieve similar advantages with the current Low-NA technology, and Samsung appears to be following this decision.

Apple is one of the largest supply chain operators in the world, maintaining a vast network of suppliers and manufacturing capacity. However, even a company of its stature is struggling amid the current DRAM shortage. According to Tim Culpan's Culpium newsletter, Apple is scrambling to secure DRAM just weeks before its annual iPhone update cycle. With less than six weeks until the launch of the iPhone 18 series and the iPhone Ultra, assemblers are rushing to place DRAM orders to secure new supplies. The Cupertino-based giant primarily relies on DRAM from Micron, whose LPDDR5X memory is used in a range of devices and is the main source for the next-generation iPhone. SK hynix and Samsung are also suppliers, but Micron remains the primary choice.

Interestingly, another report has surfaced about Apple's efforts to secure more DRAM. The company has reportedly entered negotiations with Chinese memory giant CXMT for LPDDR5X memory needed for its current product lineup. Apple attempted to negotiate better pricing with CXMT, likely due to the volume it plans to purchase, but CXMT rejected the proposed lower price. This is one of the first instances where negotiation power lies with the suppliers, as CXMT is producing one of the world's most in-demand commodities and is offering it at market rates without discounts.

According to Counterpoint Research's Global Memory Tracker update for the second quarter of 2026, memory manufacturers are adjusting their share of the global DRAM revenue. The report highlights that South Korean memory makers remain dominant, with 65% of global DRAM revenue going to Samsung and SK hynix. Samsung holds the top position, capturing 39% of the global DRAM revenue. The South Korean giant has reportedly resolved its manufacturing issues, and its foundry has delivered strong performance, widening the gap with other manufacturers. Price increases in regular DRAM and specialty solutions like HBM have significantly boosted the company's revenue, securing its stable number one spot.

In second place, SK hynix holds about 26% of the global revenue share. This is a decrease from the 39% share the company held in Q2 2025, despite its revenue growing 214% year-over-year. This indicates that while the DRAM market is expanding, Samsung is capturing a larger share of the new market growth, leading to a higher overall revenue share. SK hynix was the first to implement long-term agreements with customers, where price volatility is predetermined. This strategy involves encouraging customers into multi-year agreements rather than capitalizing on short-term price fluctuations.

Samsung Electronics a global leader in advanced memory technology, today showcased its latest AI memory innovations at Future of Memory and Storage (FMS) 2026 in Santa Clara, California.

With broad expertise spanning DRAM, NAND, enterprise storage and relevant advanced semiconductor technologies, Samsung presented its latest AI memory portfolio and technology roadmap, including a preview of its zHBM and zNAND-O concept models, the industry-first introduction of its V10 BV-NAND with 400-plus layers and a comprehensive range of solutions designed to advance future AI infrastructure. Samsung is also featuring its AI cloud server-inspired booth at FMS 2026, where approximately 30 memory and storage technologies are on display.

According to DigiTimes, industry insiders are now claiming that the entire memory production capacity for 2027 has been fully booked, well ahead of the schedule the industry expected. All of the big three memory makers—Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron—have sold out their memory capacity for the upcoming year, leaving no room for additional supply for third parties to purchase more DRAM wafers. Interestingly, the report notes that everyone from OEM server makers and PC makers to AI labs knows that July and August are crucial months for securing allocations for the following year. However, some businesses have been kept in the dark because nobody has been public about this out of fear of losing their allocation.

Memory makers have been pushing customers into long-term agreements with contracts ranging from three to five years, using an advance payment deposit model where customers essentially pre-pay for some of the memory capacity. These deals are made on an individual customer level. All of this combined signals that 2027 will be the worst year in recent history regarding memory shortages, meaning that only those who managed to sign agreements for supply will benefit, while the rest are left without as there simply isn't enough available DRAM. Only about 60-70% of the estimated demand can be met in 2027, leaving a significant amount of demand unmet and waiting for the 2028 supply.

Late last month, reports indicated that AMD was preparing to increase the prices of its graphics cards by about 10% in July due to ongoing memory shortages. However, according to the latest update from Chinese Board Channels, AMD will implement at least a 10% price hike in August, delaying the increase by about a month. This development affects AMD, which secures GPU dies from its manufacturer TSMC and makes agreements with GDDR6 memory makers like SK hynix, Micron, and Samsung. AMD negotiates rates and quantities for GDDR6 memory and bundles it with a GPU die to form a GPU kit, which is later shipped to its add-in board (AIB) partners.

AMD has now notified its AIB partners that the price increase will be at least 10%, indicating a baseline double-digit percentage increase, although the higher end of the estimate is unknown. Logically, SKUs with more VRAM are expected to carry higher premiums exceeding 10%, such as AMD's current best RDNA 4-based Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB. For SKUs with less VRAM, especially entry-level, OEM-exclusive ones like the Radeon RX 9050 4 GB edition, the price increase will likely be only 10%, as these graphics cards require fewer GDDR6 chips.

Apple has reported record quarterly results for the second quarter, ending with $109.4 billion in revenue, highlighting the resilience of its business in recent months. The company is also one of the largest supply chain operators globally, manufacturing electronics across mobile, laptop, and desktop computing. When asked about recent memory inflation during an earnings call, Apple's CEO Tim Cook explained that the company has benefited from stockpiling memory inventory and reduced costs for some other non-memory components in its bill of materials (BOM) for each device. Additionally, Apple sources memory from three suppliers: SK hynix, Micron, and Samsung, while also exploring other options. This suggests that the rumored evaluations of YMTC for NAND Flash and CXMT for DRAM are accurate, and Apple is likely undergoing some form of regulatory approval.You can see the statement from CEO Tim Cook below.

Samsung Electronics today reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026.

The Company posted KRW 171.5 trillion in consolidated revenue, another all-time quarterly high, representing a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) increase of 28%. Operating profit also reached another all-time high, increasing to KRW 89.5 trillion. Earnings per share for both common and preferred shares increased by 52% to KRW 10,849, among the highest levels for global tech companies.

Samsung Electronics and Broadcom today announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to expand their strategic collaboration across memory and foundry technologies, supporting the next generation of AI infrastructure. The MOU was announced during the AI Summit, held at The Midway in San Francisco. Attendees included Jinman Han, President and Head of Samsung Electronics' Foundry Business, Hock Tan, President and CEO of Broadcom, senior executives from both companies and representatives of the Korean government. The companies expect the collaboration to be estimated at more than $200 billion across memory and foundry over the next five years through 2030.

On the memory front, Samsung and Broadcom plan to pursue a strategic collaboration for the supply of industry-leading memory solutions, including High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), supporting Broadcom's next-generation AI accelerators. In foundry, the companies' collaboration focuses on Samsung's 2-nanometer (nm) and below process technologies for Broadcom's products, including Wireless Broadband Communications (WBC) solutions. The collaboration is expected to extend to advanced packaging technologies built on Samsung's 2 nm process, including 2.3D and 2.5D integration, to enable higher-performance and more power-efficient AI and networking silicon.

CXMT, the world's fourth-largest DRAM maker, is now reportedly charging more for its 64 GB DDR5 server RDIMM modules than Samsung, which is already asking $1,240 per unit. The numbers come from Reuters and flip the script on what most people assumed about CXMT, that it would undercut Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron on price. As we reported previously, CXMT's edge was never really about price. It was about supply availability at a time when demand was consuming everything that Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron could provide. That demand has since surged roughly tenfold, and CXMT is now under the same pricing pressure as everyone else. The situation was so serious that, reportedly, this year, some Chinese electronics firms filed complaints with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The companies complained over price hikes from both CXMT and YMTC, claiming the increases were delaying product launches.

CXMT is also building two new plants in Shanghai and Hefei, and is involved with ongoing talks about a third fab. When those two fabs start production, CXMT's monthly wafer output will pass 600,000. That is more than doubling current capacity and the Chinese company could match Micron this year and possibly overtake it by 2030 if plans stay on track. Financially, CXMT reported Q1 2026 revenue of about RMB 50.8 billion (~$7.5B), up 719% year over year, with net profit rising over 1,200%. The company is forecasting first-half 2026 revenue of RMB 110-120 billion ($16-$17.7 billion), representing growth of over 600% compared to the same period last year. A historic IPO is also in the works alongside the fab expansion push. CXMT currently holds around 8-10% of the global DRAM market, behind Micron at 24%, SK Hynix at 29%, and Samsung at 36%.

Samsung Electronics today unveiled the new Galaxy Z series, its most complete lineup yet, designed to expand foldables to a wider audience. The lineup introduces Galaxy Z Fold8, a fresh and exciting form factor that provides a new kind of foldable experience built around the way people explore, discover and immerse themselves in their favorite content.

The lineup also includes Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, which brings Galaxy's renowned Ultra standard to foldables with maximum productivity and content creation in a larger workspace. Galaxy Z Flip8—the sleekest one yet—was built for expression and quick interaction on the go. Built on seven generations of foldable innovation and consumer insight, the new Galaxy Z series gives users more choice than ever, with three distinct experiences engineered to fit different needs.

In the sea of negative news surrounding the entire semiconductor industry, NAND Flash might be one of the few major components that will become abundant again. According to the latest report by TrendForce, the storage supply chain is expected to achieve balance by 2027, making it the only area of computing projected to stabilize. Although the demand for NAND Flash and all SSD storage solutions that rely on it is expected to remain in short supply for the rest of 2026, TrendForce forecasts that supply and demand will return to normal in 2027. This year, there will be about a 4-6% supply deficit compared to demand for the remainder of the year. However, the second half of 2027 is anticipated to finally bring balance to the supply chain, with no deficit in NAND Flash supply a year from now.

This supply balance is driven by several factors. First, increased production capacity from NAND Flash suppliers like SK hynix, Micron, Samsung, YMTC, and others is crucial. The increase in the number of wafers produced each month, along with process node upgrades, will significantly boost supply, bringing this commodity to balance after a long period of uncertainty. The second factor is the persistently weak demand from consumers, as consumer electronics prices have risen so much due to DRAM and NAND Flash shortages that many consumers are opting not to purchase new hardware, avoiding the high premiums compared to a year ago. On the enterprise side, server demand will continue to rise, consuming most of the NAND Flash supply. Server demand accounts for about 40% of output consumption, while smartphones and notebooks together account for more than 40%.

DRAM is currently one of the few "commodities" in the computing world that is so supply-constrained it might take another 10 years for the supply chain to stabilize. According to ADATA Chairman Chen Li-bai, the AI bubble is far from bursting, as the demand for DRAM is outpacing supply so significantly that even with new manufacturing capacity expansions from memory makers worldwide, DRAM will remain in dire shortage for another decade. Chen Li-bai's statement was prompted by a recent decline in TSMC's stock, which fell despite posting record earnings. While some suggested this might indicate a burst in the AI hype, the ADATA chairman issued a contrary statement, suggesting we are another decade away from seeing the bubble pop.

According to Chen Li-bai, the industry can only begin discussing the potential burst of the AI bubble after 2030. After that, preliminary estimations could be made about whether the demand for more DRAM, more NAND Flash, and more computing power will be sustained until 2040 or 2050. The current demand growth is causing the entire vertical of memory, storage, computing, power infrastructure, and other areas to grow exponentially. The overall trend suggests that demand will continue to outpace supply for years to come.

Samsung Display announced today that it has begun the full-scale supply of tandem OLED panels for laptops that meet VESA DisplayHDR True Black 1400, VESA's new certification tier for high-brightness OLED displays. Samsung Display is working with global PC manufacturers to expand the premium laptop OLED market with significantly enhanced brightness performance.

Announced by VESA this month, VESA DisplayHDR True Black 1400 requires a display to reproduce black levels of 0.0005 nits or lower while achieving peak brightness of 1,400 nits at a 10% On Pixel Ratio, or OPR, which refers to the percentage of active pixels among all pixels that make up the screen. The new tier raises the peak brightness requirement by 40% compared with True Black 1000, previously VESA's highest certification level. Products certified to True Black 1400 combine OLED's signature true black performance with enhanced brightness to deliver exceptional viewing quality.

Major PC OEMs are beginning to secure deals with Chinese memory maker CXMT, as the supply chain has been depleted of available DRAM from the big three memory makers—SK hynix, Samsung, and Micron. According to a report from DigiTimes, CXMT's memory capacity has been booked through the end of 2027, leaving little room for new customers to source DRAM from China's largest memory producer. The report notes that large PC vendors such as Dell, HP, and Apple are the only ones that managed to receive allocations, while smaller brands with less presence in the desktop and laptop market have been left with nearly no allocation.

An important aspect of this situation is the negotiation leverage that larger PC vendors have. As they command more volume than smaller companies, Dell, HP, and Apple are willing to sign bigger contracts with CXMT to secure a larger DRAM supply, even at prices higher than historical levels. For CXMT, this is a positive indication that capacity expansion is well-received and a signal to continue building new fabs. DigiTimes also notes that the United States government has not yet made a firm decision on whether to keep CXMT on the barred entity list, so PC OEMs are taking advantage of the opportunity to stockpile any available DRAM. Future policy changes might impact this, but for now, long-term supply agreements are being made to secure any DDR5/LPDDR5X memory possible.

Samsung on July 14 formally launched the 990, its value-segment M.2 NVMe SSD. Not to be confused with the 990 EVO, another DRAMless SSD from the company that uses TLC NAND flash, the new 990 implements QLC NAND flash, and relies on controller-level optimization to shore up performance. Built in the M.2-2280 form-factor, the Samsung 990 features an M.2 NVMe Gen 4 (PCI-Express 4.0 x4) host interface, and is driven by a Samsung Piccolo-Q DRAMless controller. It uses the company's in-house V9 series 280-layer 3D QLC NAND flash memory.

The Samsung 990 comes in two capacity variants, 1 TB and 2 TB, priced at $270 and $530, respectively. The 1 TB variant offers sequential reads of up to 7150 MB/s with up to 6450 MB/s sequential writes, with up to 700,000 IOPS 4K random reads and up to 1.1 million IOPS 4K random writes; while the 2 TB variant offers slightly higher performance, with up to 7250 MB/s sequential reads, up to 6450 MB/s sequential writes, up to 850,000 IOPS 4K random reads, and up to 1.2 million IOPS 4K random writes. Where the 990 differs significantly from the TLC-based 990 EVO Plus, is write-endurance. The 2 TB variant offers 800 TBW, while the 1 TB variant offers a paltry 400 TBW. For reference, the 2 TB 990 EVO Plus offers 1200 TBW, and 1 TB 990 EVO Plus offers 600 TBW. Both variants are backed by 3-year warranties.

Samsung Electronics today unveiled new Flex Titanium technology for the next generation of Galaxy foldable devices. Built on seven generations of foldable innovation and engineering expertise, the redesigned display structure utilizes structural and material advancements to deliver a more refined viewing experience with enhanced durability and reduced crease visibility. Made possible thanks to Samsung's accumulated display know-how, Flex Titanium technology integrates two titanium-based components - a titanium-alloy film and a titanium plate - working together to balance slimness, flexibility and strength within the foldable display structure.

"Samsung's strength in the foldable category comes from connecting user needs with our technologies that deliver tangible benefits in everyday life," said Sunghoon Moon, EVP and Senior Executive, Mobile R&D Office - H/W, Samsung Electronics. "For the next generation of Galaxy foldables, Samsung is building on years of expertise to bring display innovations into devices that enhance user experiences, anchored by exceptional viewing experiences."

Earlier this year, Elon Musk announced that Tesla had completed the design of its AI5 SoC. Today, we learn that the company will receive these processors from a United States-based Samsung fab located in Taylor, Texas. This means Samsung is preparing to produce the AI5 chip on its SF2 2 nm node on U.S. soil, effectively utilizing the CHIPS Act funding it received to manufacture silicon for domestic companies. As more companies push for domestic manufacturing, Tesla has been working with Samsung and TSMC to leverage their American-based facilities to align the vital parts of the supply chain with the location where the company is based and conducts most of its business.

For Samsung, this is a significant customer win, as Tesla will undertake major volume production in its Taylor fab on the SF2 node. This is one of the first major projects outside of Samsung's usual operations in South Korea, where most of its leading-edge production occurs. Regarding the AI5 chip, Tesla has designed these processors for Full Self-Driving (FSD). The CEO also mentioned that the AI5 chip will offer performance comparable to NVIDIA's "Hopper" architecture, with two AI5 units matching the power of a single "Blackwell" processor. On both the left and right sides, there are two rows of SK hynix LPDDR5X memory modules, each with three modules. This totals 12 LPDDR5X memory modules per AI5 chip. With 16 GB per module, this results in 192 GB of LPDDR5X memory per AI5 SoC. Additionally, Tesla has ambitious plans for nine-month design cycles for the AI6, which will also be part of the joint effort between Samsung, TSMC, and possibly even Intel with its advanced packaging. Musk confirmed that the AI6 and Dojo 3 projects, among other "exciting chips," are currently in progress, suggesting we could see much more custom silicon ASICs in the coming months.

According to a display industry analyst from South Korea, Nintendo is considering releasing a Switch 2 handheld console with an OLED display. While there has been speculation that Nintendo will announce a Switch 2 OLED version, the company is currently evaluating whether this option is financially feasible. If Nintendo determines that it makes financial sense, the company plans to start development towards the end of this year, with mass production targeted for the end of 2027. This would set an early 2028 goal for the market launch. If the decision is made to proceed, it is likely that Samsung Display will supply a rigid OLED panel for the Switch 2 OLED version. However, there is a significant price difference between the current 1080p LCD panel and a potential rigid OLED touchscreen display, with the LCD version reportedly being much cheaper.

The current situation with tight memory and storage supply isn't helping either, as Nintendo has been forced to increase the Switch 2 cost by about $50, depending on the configuration. NAND Flash and DRAM pricing have been rising, forcing Nintendo to raise costs, which will take effect on September 1st of this year. Additionally, Nintendo would have to pass the extra costs of the OLED panel to consumers, which could range from double to triple digits by the time the Switch 2 OLED version hits the market. If the memory and storage shortage persists, we could see another price hike for the regular LCD version, and the OLED SKU might not make financial sense. Hence, the company is currently debating whether to start development or not.

The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) today announced DisplayHDR True Black 1400, a new flagship performance tier in its DisplayHDR True Black specification that certifies the latest generation of OLED displays for professional HDR content creation and premium HDR content consumption. The new tier recognizes advances in OLED display technology that enable significantly higher luminance performance while preserving the deep black levels, exceptional contrast and visual fidelity that define the DisplayHDR True Black program. The first products certified to the DisplayHDR True Black 1400 specification will be showcased at Bilibili World 2026 in Shanghai, China, July 10-12.

DisplayHDR True Black 1400 is VESA's highest-performance DisplayHDR True Black tier to date, requiring certified displays to achieve at least 1400 cd/m² peak luminance while maintaining black levels as low as 0.0005 cd/m². The new tier also raises full-screen luminance performance to at least 700 cd/m², representing a significant advancement in sustained HDR brightness while maintaining the exceptional black-level performance associated with emissive display technologies such as OLED.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a global leader in advanced memory technology, today announced mass production of PM1763, the company's PCIe 6.0-based enterprise solid state drive (SSD) optimized for next-generation AI and HPC server environments. As the volume of data required for AI training and inference continues to grow rapidly, enterprise SSDs (eSSDs) capable of delivering data quickly and reliably are becoming increasingly essential to AI infrastructure.

Featuring high-speed data transfer and an optimized controller architecture, PM1763 is expected to serve as a key storage solution for high-performance AI platforms. "Built on industry-leading performance, PM1763 has successfully completed validation for next-generation AI platforms and is well positioned to support evolving AI infrastructure requirements," said Jangseok Choi, Vice President and Head of Memory Product Planning at Samsung Electronics. "As AI models continue to grow in size and complexity, PM1763 will serve as a key solution that enables customers to efficiently scale memory capacity and optimize AI operations."

Lexar is preparing new DDR5 memory kits built around CXMT (ChangXin Memory Technologies) chips, and the jump in speed over previous CXMT-based products is notable. Earlier kits using CXMT memory were limited to 6000 MT/s while the new modules push that to 7200 MT/s and 7600 MT/s, both running CL38 timings at 1.4 V. The new kits will launch under the THOR II name in the existing THOR RGB DDR5 lineup in 32 GB dual-channel configurations using two 16 GB modules. CPU-Z data backing the 7600 MT/s claim has already surfaced, with the faster kit identified by the module name LD5U16G76C38BV.

MSI recently demonstrated CXMT-based DDR5 hitting 8000 MT/s on AMD platforms, which signals that these chips have more overclocking headroom than their mainstream entry-level positioning suggested. However, the new Lexar kits don't seem to quite reach that speed, but 7600 MT/s at CL38 is competitive with what other memory vendors are offering in the same tier. No pricing or release date has been announced yet by Lexar for its upcoming THOR II RGB DDR5 memory kits. Looking back at CXMT, it does seem that the Chinese company has managed to close the gap with Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. Moreover, recent reports stated that even Apple is negotiating with the U.S. government to get clearance to use sanctioned CXMT memory chips in its products.

Samsung is giving finishing touches to the SSD 990, a new upcoming M.2 NVMe Gen 4 SSD taking up the value end of the company's client SSD lineup. The 990 is not to be confused with the 990 EVO Plus, which was the company's DRAMless performance-segment SSD for PCIe Gen 4 generation. What segments the new 990 from the 990 EVO Plus is probably the NAND flash type (QLC vs. TLC), and an updated controller on the 990. While the 990 EVO Plus came with a Gen 4 x4 or Gen 5 x2 interface, the 990 is squarely Gen 4 x4. References to the Samsung 990 briefly surfaced on Samsung's Canadian website, before being removed, but VideoCardz grabbed some screenshots.

The Samsung 990 is, predictably, a DRAMless drive, which uses an in-house controller from Samsung. The drive is noted as offering lower write endurance than the 990 EVO Plus, which uses TLC NAND flash, so it's possible that the drive uses QLC NAND flash. The 1 TB model is shown offering 400 TBW write endurance, while the 2 TB variant offers 800 TBW. In terms of performance, both variants offer sequential transfer speeds in the upper band of PCIe Gen 4 era, with up to 7250 MB/s sequential reads for the 2 TB variant, up to 7150 MB/s for the 1 TB variant; and both variants offering up to 6450 MB/s sequential writes.

South Korean giants Samsung and SK hynix have announced plans to invest about 1,350 trillion won, roughly $870 billion at the time of writing, into expanding semiconductor manufacturing capacity and data centers over the next ten years. This ten-year plan includes memory, storage, and logic, which both companies produce. For SK hynix, this investment will cover DRAM and NAND Flash, while for Samsung, it will cover DRAM, NAND Flash, as well as logic for its LSI division. The investment is so comprehensive that it will include more than just creating new fab production capacity for increased wafer output. For example, it will also encompass AI data centers, batteries, display manufacturing, chip-making tools, etching, photomasks, and much more.

The first milestone set by the South Korean government is to double DRAM production capacity within five years and significantly improve NAND Flash production capacity. By the end of the ten-year plan, both Samsung and SK hynix will add 4-5 semiconductor plants to their South Korean hubs, which will be a massive investment in job creation and production capacity. This is a strong indicator that South Korea will remain a leader in modern memory and storage production. Although the plans might seem ambitious, the ten-year timeline allows both companies and the South Korean government to manage the investment and buildout effectively.