In the first half of 2026, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix collectively invested KRW 43.2 trillion in semiconductor facilities, a year-on-year increase of 35.1%, with capacity utilization rates reaching 100% to address robust demand for AI memory. Regarding customer structure, NVIDIA's share of SK Hynix's revenue declined to 13.35%, and it did not rank among Samsung's top five customers, reflecting a diversification of AI memory demand away from heavy reliance on NVIDIA. The competitive focus is shifting toward next-generation products and a broader base of AI chip customers.
$Samsung Electronics (005930.KR)$ and $SK hynix (SKHY.US)$ Driven by surging demand for artificial intelligence, both companies are aggressively expanding production capacity, with their combined semiconductor facility investments in the first half of 2026 rising by more than 30% year on year.
On August 17, citing the first-half 2026 reports from both companies, South Korean media outlet Etoday reported that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix invested a combined 43.198 trillion won in semiconductor facilities during the first half of the year, a 35.1% increase from 31.98 trillion won in the same period last year. Both companies achieved 100% capacity utilization, underscoring the robust demand for AI memory products.
Regarding customer structure, NVIDIA's share of SK Hynix's revenue declined from 24% in full-year 2025 to 13.35%. Meanwhile, NVIDIA did not even appear among Samsung's top five customers during the same period. This divergence highlights the differing strategic approaches the two companies have adopted in their AI business layouts.
Strong AI Demand Accelerates Capacity Expansion by Two Memory Giants
In terms of investment pacing, SK Hynix has pursued a more aggressive expansion strategy.
Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions (DS) division saw its facility investment rise by 23.5% year-on-year in the first half, primarily directed toward next-generation memory, advanced process capacity, and related infrastructure. In contrast, SK Hynix's facility investment surged by 56.4%, focusing on meeting demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), high-capacity DRAM, and enterprise-grade SSDs.
Both companies have reached 100% capacity utilization, indicating that existing production lines are operating at full load. Against the backdrop of continued advancement in AI infrastructure construction, the rapid growth in demand for high-end memory products such as HBM is also driving Samsung and SK Hynix to proactively expand capacity for next-generation products.
In other words, this round of capital expenditure is not merely about catching up with current demand, but rather about securing capacity and technological advantages for the next wave of growth in the AI memory sector.
R&D Spending Hits Record Highs; SK Hynix Growth Rate Nearly Doubles
Beyond the expansion of capital expenditure, both companies are simultaneously increasing their research and development investments.
Samsung Electronics' company-wide R&D expenditure in the first half of the year reached KRW 27.363 trillion, a 51.5% year-on-year increase, marking a record high for any first-half period. However, Samsung did not separately disclose the R&D investment of its Device Solutions (DS) division. SK Hynix's R&D spending growth was even more pronounced, reaching KRW 6.043 trillion in the first half, a 98.4% year-on-year increase, equivalent to approximately 90% of its full-year R&D expenditure in 2025.
Competition among memory manufacturers is extending beyond traditional process technology and capacity rivalry into the AI computing ecosystem.
According to Korean media reports, Micron recently launched the USD 250 million Micron Ventures Paradigm Fund, the largest venture capital fund in the company's history to date. The fund focuses on areas such as AI model architecture, computing, enterprise applications, and physical AI. Its objective is to position itself early for potential AI technology trends and establish a partner network related to next-generation memory and computing products.
AI memory demand shifts from "reliance on NVIDIA" to "diversification"
The semi-annual report indicates that changes in customer structure were one of the most significant highlights of the period.
According to The Seoul Economic Daily, SK Hynix's revenue from NVIDIA in the first half of 2026 reached KRW 17.6087 trillion, accounting for 13.35% of total revenue, down from the 24% share recorded for the full year of 2025.
This shift does not imply a decline in NVIDIA's importance. On the contrary, SK Hynix is expanding supplies of AI chips developed in-house by major technology companies, thereby diversifying its customer base. As SK Hynix advances HBM4 supply in alignment with NVIDIA's Vera Rubin platform, NVIDIA's contribution to its revenue is expected to rebound in the second half of the year.
Samsung's customer structure exhibits a higher degree of concentration. According to its semi-annual report, the top five customers accounted for approximately 25% of total revenue, with NVIDIA failing to make this list.
This indicates that while demand for AI chips surges, the relationship between memory manufacturers and their customers is evolving: although NVIDIA remains one of the most important clients in the HBM market, the sources of AI memory demand are becoming more diversified as tech giants such as Alphabet and Amazon accelerate the development of proprietary ASICs.
For Samsung and SK Hynix, future competition will not only be about "who can produce more HBM," but also about who can faster penetrate the expanding customer base for AI chips and secure more core clients for next-generation products such as HBM4.
Editor/KOKO