Samsung Electronics is gaining pricing power in its foundry business as AI and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) demand tightens advanced-node capacity, with its 4nm lines reportedly fully booked through 2027 and some customers being steered toward 5nm production.
South Korean export data showed a sharp shift in high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, shipments toward Malaysia and away from Taiwan, according to SemiAnalysis ChipBook. The shift suggested that some HBM shipments previously sent to Taiwan for TSMC's CoWoS packaging might be redirected to packaging plants in Malaysia.
The Gujarat government's approval of 12-hour work shifts at Micron Technology's Sanand assembly and test plant is more than just a single-factory ruling. It is the clearest sign yet that Indian states are willing to reshape decades-old labor rules to fit the round-the-clock demands of semiconductor manufacturing, as they compete for a slice of a global chip supply chain shifting away from China.
Samsung Electronics fully repaid a KRW20 trillion unsecured loan from Samsung Display ahead of schedule in the second quarter of 2026, according to South Korean publication ZDNet Korea and filings in the Financial Supervisory Service's DART system. The early repayment came as AI-related demand lifted memory prices and strengthened the company's cash position.
The global semiconductor ecosystem is facing an unprecedented shortage of memory chips, with hardware growth increasingly constrained by memory availability. At the same time, capacity at the world's leading advanced chipmakers has been fully booked, turning packaging capacity and memory allocation into major challenges for the broader AI market.
SK hynix said on August 19 that its board had approved a plan to repurchase and cancel KRW40 trillion (roughly US$29 billion) of its own shares, the largest share buyback and cancellation ever undertaken by a company listed in South Korea.
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have amassed a combined KRW278 trillion (approx. US$196.9 billion) in cash equivalents and short-term financial instruments by the end of the second quarter of 2026 as AI-driven memory demand lifted prices, revenue, and profit. The surge has shifted attention from earnings growth to how South Korea's two largest memory chipmakers will deploy their expanding financial firepower.
Samsung Electronics is reportedly on track to complete development of 10-nanometer-class seventh-generation DRAM, also known as 1d DRAM, before SK hynix. According to The Bell, citing industry sources, Samsung is targeting September 2026 for completion, while SK hynix is aiming for December 2026, giving Samsung a lead of about one quarter.
SK hynix's second-largest customer generated KRW17.19 trillion (approx. US$12.4 billion) in sales in the first half of 2026, nearly matching the KRW17.61 trillion contributed by its largest customer. Yonhap News Agency identified the largest customer as Nvidia.
Samsung Electronics' semiconductor chief has told executives not to treat the company's HBM4 comeback as proof that its recovery is complete, according to Seoul Economic Daily. The caution comes as the memory industry shifts to a generation that will be harder to manufacture at scale.
Samsung Electronics' consolidated sales in China surged 272% in the first half of 2026, far outpacing growth in the Americas as a sharp semiconductor recovery lifted the company's overall performance. Nvidia, meanwhile, was not among Samsung's five major customers.
Samsung Electronics is reportedly considering repurposing the second line at its next-generation semiconductor R&D complex in Giheung into a foundry send-fab, a shift that would add advanced-node capacity as demand for AI memory strains leading-edge capacity.
