
South Korean tech giants commit over $550B to ease ‘ RAMageddon’
South Korean tech giants Samsung and SK Hynix have committed to investing over $550 billion to build four new memory fabs in the southwestern region of South Korea.
This massive investment is part of a broader national plan totaling over $900 billion, which also includes $356 billion for AI data centers and $52 billion for an HBM packaging hub.
The move aims to address the global 'RAMageddon' shortage caused by surging AI demand, with Samsung and SK Hynix currently enjoying record chip demand alongside Micron.
President Jae Myung Lee declared 2026 as the year South Korea must establish itself as an 'irreplaceable' industrial power, urging companies to spread investment beyond the traditional semiconductor belt near Seoul.
Samsung separately announced a $1.7 trillion investment over the next decade, citing incentives in the Honam region as key factors.
The scale of this commitment positions South Korea as a major AI power player, comparable to the $650 billion AI infrastructure spending by U.S. tech giants this year.
This strategic expansion highlights the critical role of memory chips in the next industrial era driven by physical AI and data centers.


