Shares of South Korean semiconductor majors Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell on Monday following reports that both companies are poised to unveil investment plans totaling approximately 1.3 trillion won in the semiconductor sector. The announcement, involving the expansion of manufacturing capacity, has drawn keen attention from investors amid a global surge in demand for advanced chips.
At the start of trading, Samsung Electronics’ shares declined 5% to KRW 322,250, while SK Hynix dropped 3.2% to KRW 2,587,000. The declines occurred ahead of a scheduled presentation where Samsung Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won are expected to brief President Lee Jae Myung on their capital investment strategies at 2 pm local time.
Samsung’s proposed plan includes building four to five new semiconductor fabrication plants in Gwangju, complemented by chip packaging facilities in South Chungcheong province. Meanwhile, SK Hynix intends to construct a similar number of fabs in Gwangju and expand its NAND production in North Chungcheong province.
The announcements come at a time when semiconductor manufacturers worldwide are accelerating efforts to boost output, particularly to address rising demand for components powering artificial intelligence applications. On Friday, Maeil Business Newspaper reported that Samsung might unveil a decade-long commitment involving investments amounting to 1,000 trillion won (about $646 billion).
SK Hynix recently surpassed Samsung in stock market valuation, reflecting its lead in high-bandwidth memory chips, a key component in AI hardware. SK Hynix supplies advanced HBM chips to Nvidia, while Samsung has been increasing its own investments to enhance competitiveness in this area.
