Samsung and SK Hynix are planning something big in the AI chip segment, with a $576 billion investment. The South Korean companies will establish four new chip fabs in the southwest region (Honam) as a semiconductor packaging base.
While the global tech vendors are competing over the shortage of memory chips, Samsung and SK Hynix planned a $576 billion investment (800 trillion won) to dominate the AI chip race. The plan will be backed by the South Korean government.
On June 29, South Korean authorities announced that they will double their DRAM production capacity in the next five years. As per President Lee Jae-myung, Samsung will develop 5 and 6 units in the Pyeongtaek plant.
Both Samsung and SK Hynix will develop four chip plants in Honam, two for each. Jae-myung says that the chip production will be pushed to the southwest region.
According to the details, the companies are expanding their post-processing packaging ecosystem to respond to the rapidly increasing demand for new AI semiconductors.
Lee Jae-myung mentioned that the government will support Samsung for the post-process packaging base of Onyang, the development of the HBM plant in Cheonan, and will invest in SK Hynix’s HBM packaging plant in Cheongju.
He added:
“In response to the increasing demand for semiconductors, the ongoing production base must be completed quickly, and supply capacity must be secured in advance through large-scale new investments, such as in the southwest region.”
Meanwhile, the southeast region will act as a resource area for semiconductor materials, parts, and equipment. Doing so will make the supply chain of small and medium-sized firms more stable.
Per the reports, the upcoming AI chip market will witness a 30 trillion won investment over the next 15 years. Simply put, the southwestern fabs will act as next-gen memory fabrication setups, and the Chungcheong region will be the advanced packaging segment for the complex process of stacking multiple SoCs.
