South Korean chip giants step up China investments to combat global AI memory shortage

SCMP Tech / 3/29/2026

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Key Points

  • South Korean chip manufacturers are increasing investments in China in an effort to address a global AI memory shortage.
  • Analysts caution that the strategy may be hard to maintain over time because China is still constrained by U.S. export controls.
  • The article frames the move as part of a broader supply-chain and capacity competition tied directly to AI infrastructure demands.
  • It highlights the tension between short-term production/investment needs and longer-term regulatory/geopolitical limitations affecting chip access to China.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are stepping up investments in their China wafer fabs as they race to boost supply amid a tightening memory chip market driven by demand for artificial intelligence computing, underscoring China’s continued role in semiconductor production despite US restrictions. Samsung Electronics invested 465.4 billion won (US$308.8 million) in its Xian chip plant in 2025, a 67.5 per cent increase from a year earlier, according to an annual report filed with South Korea’s...

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