Samsung Electronics is reportedly considering repurposing the second line at its next-generation semiconductor R&D complex in Giheung into a foundry send-fab, a shift that would add advanced-node capacity as demand for AI memory strains leading-edge capacity.
High-bandwidth memory (HBM), a core component in AI semiconductors, has drawn fresh scrutiny after former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger called it "lousy" at a recent AI summit in Paris. SK Hynix, the market leader in this type of memory, also said it is not the final answer to AI memory bottlenecks, underscoring the industry's push to find a next-generation memory architecture beyond HBM.
South Korea's semiconductor export boom was heavily concentrated in memory in July. Memory-chip export value surged 276.9% year over year, while system semiconductor exports slipped 0.7%, as server demand and higher memory prices created a sharp split between the two segments.
SanDisk Corp used its August 13, 2026 investor day to detail a technology roadmap and a set of financial targets it says will carry the flash-memory maker through the end of the decade. The plans center on new multiyear supply contracts with data center customers and an accelerating NAND product cadence built around artificial intelligence inference workloads.
Kioxia is developing a PCIe Gen6 optical SSD and hopes to work with customers on its next prototype, as the Japanese memory maker tackles cost and reliability hurdles that still stand between the technology and mass production.
