Key Points

Samsung Electronics is reviewing plans to restart construction of chip manufacturing plants in Korea, while SK hynix has recently begun building a new back-end processing facility.

Citing industry sources, the Korean English daily said that tech giant Samsung is preparing to resume work on its Pyeongtaek Campus Line 4 (P4), where construction was halted last year.

P4, the company's fourth major chip facility at the site, is divided into four phases. While Phases 1 and 3 are nearing completion, sources have reported that work orders have recently been issued for Phases 2 and 4, with full-scale construction expected within two to three months, the news platform added.

Initially planned for foundry production, two areas of the P4 facility are now expected to be converted into DRAM production lines. These will manufacture sixth-generation 1c DRAM using a 10-nanometer process, a technology Samsung confirmed it has successfully developed for next-generation high bandwidth memory (HBM4) chips.

Vice Chair Jun Young-hyun, who oversees Samsung's semiconductor division, visited the U.S. last week and met with Nvidia, signalling the company's commitment to closing the gap with competitors and securing new HBM chip orders.

Phase 4 is projected to have a monthly capacity of 80,000 wafers, accounting for 40 per cent of P4's total capacity of 200,000 12-inch wafers.

Although not officially confirmed, reports suggest Samsung is also considering restarting construction of its fifth plant at the Pyeongtaek Campus, known as P5. Groundwork for P5 began in 2023 but was halted early last year, the news platform added.

The P5 facility, requiring an estimated investment of over 30 trillion won (USD 22 billion), is designed to be a complex fab for DRAM, NAND flash, and foundry production.

"We are continuously reviewing various scenarios for resuming construction of our facilities," a Samsung official said, quoted by Korea Herald.

The report added that SK hynix is also scaling up production capacity. The chipmaker is expected to complete construction of its new M15X plant in Cheongju later this year. This facility will begin producing fifth-generation 10nm-class DRAM chips for next-generation HBM4 products, with a planned monthly capacity of approximately 90,000 wafers.

Additionally, SK hynix is investing in a new back-end production facility, dubbed "P&T 7," also located in Cheongju. The site will enhance packaging capabilities to boost the performance and energy efficiency of advanced chips.

The DRAM market is expected to remain strong in the second half of the year, driven by demand for HBM chips, which play a key role in powering AI processors.

According to the Export-Import Bank of Korea, the global AI semiconductor market is projected to grow from USD 41.1 billion in 2022 to USD 133 billion by 2028, the Korea Herald added.

- ANI