According to South Korean media BusinessKorea, major memory chip manufacturers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are making large-scale facility investments in their factories in China to upgrade their process technology and production capacity.
Amid a global surge in AI investments and the resulting memory semiconductor shortage, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are mobilizing all available capacity, including their Chinese factories, to increase supply to customers. Last year, Samsung and SK Hynix together invested 1.5 trillion Korean won (about $1 billion) in their Chinese factories, aiming to expand chip supply and improve profitability by upgrading local NAND Flash and DRAM production processes and capacity.
According to data released by the Financial Supervisory Service of Korea, Samsung Electronics invested 465.4 billion Korean won ($344 million) last year in its factory in Xi’an, China, a significant increase of 67.5% from 277.8 billion Korean won ($185 million) the previous year. The Xi’an factory is Samsung Electronics’ only overseas NAND Flash production facility, accounting for about 40% of its total output. [Icsmart, in Chinese]