[News] Samsung, SK hynix 1H26 Chip Facility Investment Up 35%; NVIDIA Not Among Samsung’s Top Five Customers

Samsung and SK hynix are accelerating semiconductor investment as AI demand drives capacity expansion and advanced-process upgrades. According to Etoday, citing the companies’ 2026 semi-annual reports, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix invested a combined KRW 43.198 trillion in semiconductor facilities in 1H26, up 35.1% YoY from KRW 31.9751 trillion. Samsung invested KRW 25.603 trillion in its Device Solutions (DS) division, up 23.5%, focusing on next-generation memory technologies, advanced-process capacity expansion and infrastructure.

SK hynix’s facility investment reached KRW 17.595 trillion, up 56.4% YoY, as it stepped up spending to meet growing AI memory demand for HBM, high-capacity DRAM, and enterprise SSDs (eSSDs). Etoday also notes that production facilities at both companies were effectively running at full capacity, with Samsung’s DS memory lines and SK hynix both recording 100% utilization in 1H26.

Industry observers say the surge in AI memory demand is prompting both companies to accelerate advanced-process transitions and capacity expansion. The investments are seen as proactive moves not only to meet current demand but also to prepare for future HBM generations and growth in the high-capacity server memory market.

R&D spending also rose sharply in 1H26. According to Etoday, Samsung Electronics’…