[News] SK hynix Reportedly Raises Yongin Investments to KRW 600T; Samsung Also Boosts Spending

South Korean giants Samsung and SK hynix are ramping up investments amid surging AI demand. According to ZDNet, Samsung plans to invest 450 trillion won in Korea over the next five years, including significant R&D spending. SK Group, as noted by Yonhap News, had initially planned to invest 128 trillion won in Korea by 2028, but projected costs continue to climb, and total investment in the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster upon completion could reach roughly 600 trillion won.

Samsung: Pyeongtaek complex’s P5 Takes Center Stage

Samsung Electronics announced on the 16th that it decided to move forward with structural construction for the P5 line in the second phase of the Pyeongtaek complex, as ZDNet notes. The company expects mid- to long-term demand for memory semiconductors to rise, and plans to secure production lines in advance to respond swiftly to market changes.

The P5 line is scheduled to begin full operations in 2028, and its investment alone could reach around 60 trillion won, as noted by Newsis. Samsung Electronics is expected to use the facility to produce next-generation HBM, including HBM4, and the plant is also likely to serve as a mass-production base for 7th-generation HBM4E, which is projected to enter the market in 2027.

Aside from expanding the Pyeongtaek Campus complex, Samsung SDS is advancing a multi-site infrastructure strategy to boost its AI computing capabilities, including plans for a national computing center in Jeonnam and an AI data center in Gumi. Meanwhile, Samsung Electro-Mechanics has been increasing capacity at its Busan plant, its primary production base for high-value semiconductor package substrates, through ongoing investments since 2022, as noted by ZDNet.

SK hynix Accelerates Fab Expansion and AI Infrastructure Investments

SK hynix is also stepping up investment. According to Yonhap News, SK Group plans to build four fabs at the Yongin cluster. With each fab comparable in scale to the six-fab M15X campus in Cheongju, industry estimates that total investment in the Yongin project could reach around 600 trillion won. The report adds that the surge reflects rapidly growing demand for high-value AI memory such as HBM.

Newsis notes that SK hynix plans to start operating its first fab at the Yongin Cluster in 2027. The facility is expected to focus on next-generation HBM products, including HBM4 and HBM4E. The Yongin site is also slated to manufacture 321-layer NAND—the world’s highest-density NAND and the company’s newest product.

Meanwhile, SK Telecom and SK Broadband are constructing an AI data center in Ulsan in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS). Scheduled to begin operations in 2027, the facility will run at a hyperscale capacity of 100MW and is expected to serve as a major AI hub for Northeast Asia. Industry sources estimate that the Ulsan SK AI data center alone will require several trillion won in investment. The group is also considering a joint plan with OpenAI to establish an AI data center in the southwestern region of the Korean Peninsula, as Yonhap News indicates.

Read more

• [News] HBM4E Seen Hitting 40% of 2027 Market; Samsung, SK hynix Reportedly Aim for 1H26 Completion
• [News] SK hynix Unveils 2029–2031 Roadmap Featuring HBM5, GDDR7-Next, and 400+ Layer NAND

(Photo credit: SK hynix)