Samsung, SK Hynix Shares Slide on Reports of $1.3 Trillion Investment Plans

Shares of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell sharply on Monday after reports said South Korea's two largest chipmakers are preparing to announce investment plans worth up to 2,000 trillion won ($1.3 trillion) over the next decade, raising concerns over the scale of future capital expenditure.

Samsung Electronics shares dropped 4.7%, while SK Hynix declined 3.1% in early trading after the Korea Economic Daily reported that the companies would unveil their long-term investment strategies during a government briefing chaired by President Lee Jae Myung.

According to the report, the investment roadmap is expected to be presented at a government meeting scheduled for 2 p.m. local time on Monday. South Korea's presidential office confirmed that President Lee would preside over the briefing but did not disclose details of the proposed investments.

The report follows an earlier article published by the Maeil Business Newspaper, which said Samsung Group alone is preparing a 1,000 trillion won ($646 billion) investment programme covering the next 10 years.

The proposed spending is expected to focus on expanding semiconductor manufacturing capacity, artificial intelligence data centres, advanced chip packaging, battery technologies and display production. According to the Maeil report, approximately 300 trillion won could be allocated to new semiconductor fabrication plants in southwestern South Korea, while 360 trillion won may be invested in the Yongin semiconductor cluster. More than 350 trillion won is also reportedly earmarked for AI data centre development, although it remains unclear whether some of the planned investments overlap.

The reported investment plans come as global demand for advanced memory chips continues to accelerate, driven by rapid expansion in artificial intelligence infrastructure. High-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, essential for AI processors, remain in short supply as major cloud service providers and technology companies increase spending on next-generation computing systems.

SK Hynix has strengthened its position as the leading supplier of advanced HBM chips to Nvidia, while Samsung Electronics has intensified investments aimed at narrowing the technology gap with its domestic competitor and expanding its presence in the AI semiconductor market.

Although investors reacted cautiously to the scale of the reported spending plans, analysts said the proposed investments reflect South Korea's broader strategy to maintain its leadership in the global semiconductor industry as competition intensifies across artificial intelligence, advanced chip manufacturing and data centre infrastructure.

Neither Samsung Electronics nor SK Hynix has officially confirmed the reported investment figures ahead of the government's scheduled announcement.