Korea’s memory fortress under pressure as China advances — but the lead still holds

China Factor examines how China’s rise is redrawing the competitive map for Korea’s key industries, and what that means for the global supply chain order. This is the second installment. — Ed. Long dismissed as years behind its global rivals, China’s memory-chip industry is advancing faster than expected, unsettling competitors in South Korea and the US. Massive state backing and a looming initial public offering by China’s top DRAM maker have raised fresh questions over how quickly the country’

Feb. 2, 2026

[Book Review] Tracing long game behind SK hynix’s HBM play

SK hynix’s emergence as a pivotal player in the global artificial intelligence semiconductor market is the result of long-term strategic planning anchored in high bandwidth memory (HBM), according to "Super Momentum," a new book chronicling the chipmaker’s internal transformation. Rather than portraying HBM as a singular technological breakthrough, authors Lee In-sook, Kim Bo-mi, Kim Won-jang, Yoo Min-young, Lim Soo-jung and Han Woon-hoe present it as the outcome of sustained investment, organiz

Feb. 2, 2026

Samsung OLED TVs, monitors win Nvidia GPU compatibility certification

Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday its latest organic light-emitting diode TVs and gaming monitors have won certification for compatibility with US tech giant Nvidia Corp.'s graphics processing units, offering a smooth experience for high-quality gaming content. Samsung Electronics' 2026 OLED TV lineup and next-generation Odyssey gaming monitors -- G60H and G61SH -- have won the Nvidia G-SYNC Compatible title, the company said in a release. The certification indicates the Samsung display produc

Feb. 2, 2026

NAND prices surge as Korean memory giants prioritize HBM

A 64.8 percent spike in NAND flash prices last month is sending ripples through global supply chains as South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and SK hynix increasingly shift production focus to high-bandwidth AI memory. In January, contract prices for mainstream 128-gigabit multi-level cell NAND reached $9.46, the highest jump in over a decade, according to market research firm TrendForce. The price rally coincides with a reduction in NAND output by the market’s two largest suppliers. Omdia data sho

Feb. 1, 2026

SK Telecom rejects consumer agency's compensation settlement over personal data leak

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's top mobile carrier, refused to accept a settlement proposal by a government-affiliated consumer agency to pay 100,000 won (US$69.40) per person in compensation to dozens of users over a personal data breach, industry sources said Friday. The company submitted its decision in writing to the Consumer Dispute Settlement Commission earlier Friday, according to people familiar with the matter, rejecting the commission's settlement proposal that called for SK Telecom to p

Jan. 30, 2026

Samsung Health scores Korea’s first digital health registration

Samsung Electronics said Friday that key health-tracking features on its Galaxy Watch 8 series have been registered as South Korea’s first “digital medical and health support devices,” under a new regulatory framework for digital health products. The registration covers core functions of the health management system, including heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen measurement and step counting, the company said. The designation comes following the introduction of a voluntary reporting and performa

Jan. 30, 2026

LG Electronics sales hit record in 2025, margins under pressure

LG Electronics said Friday it posted record sales for the second consecutive year in 2025, but its operating profit declined amid intensifying competition and one-off restructuring costs. In a regulatory filing, the company reported a consolidated revenue of 89.2 trillion won ($66 billion) in 2025, up 1.7 percent from a year earlier. The rise was backed by growth in home appliances and automotive solutions, offsetting tariff pressures and a temporary slowdown in electric vehicle demand. Operatin

Jan. 30, 2026

Merck appoints key strategist to lead electronics business

German science and technology group Merck said Friday it has appointed Benjamin Hein, 38, as chief executive of its Electronics business sector and a member of the executive board, effective May 1. Hein, a 13-year Merck veteran, has played a central role in reshaping the company’s electronics unit into a major semiconductor-focused business through strategic acquisitions and portfolio transformation. He will succeed Kai Beckmann, who was named chair of the executive board and CEO of Merck from M

Jan. 30, 2026

Long-stalled chip bill clears National Assembly

After 18 months of political deadlock, South Korea’s National Assembly on Thursday passed a long-delayed special law aimed at bolstering the country’s semiconductor industry, a cornerstone of its export economy and a strategic pillar in the global AI race. The bill, formally titled the Special Act on Strengthening and Supporting the Competitiveness of the Semiconductor Industry, establishes a comprehensive institutional framework to support the entire semiconductor supply chain, encompassing mem

Jan. 29, 2026

SK hynix doubles down on HBM to cement unrivaled market lead

SK hynix expressed confidence Thursday in capturing an overwhelming share of the HBM4 market, replicating its dominance in earlier generations of high bandwidth memory that has been all-important to artificial intelligence, after posting record profit in 2025. During an earnings call, the chipmaker also said it will ramp up capital expenditure this year to meet explosive growth in AI memory demand. "For HBM4, customers and infrastructure partners show strong preference and expectations for our p

Jan. 29, 2026

ChatGPT narrows Naver’s grip on Korean search

New survey data shows more than half of South Korean internet users have used ChatGPT at least once in the past three months for search, confirming an ongoing trend away from the country’s long-dominant portal-based platforms like Naver. According to OpenSurvey’s AI Search Trend Report 2026, published this week, 54.5 percent of Korean respondents said they had used ChatGPT to search for information at least once over the past three months. This figure, based on a survey of 2,000 men and women ag

Jan. 29, 2026

HBM4 rollout lifts Samsung’s AI ambitions amid record profits

Samsung Electronics said Thursday it has started mass-producing its sixth-generation HBM4 chips, with customer shipments slated for next month as part of its broader push into next-gen memory and AI-powered devices. Kim Jae-june, executive vice president of the memory division, said during the tech giant’s fourth-quarter earnings call earlier in the day that the development of HBM4 was aimed at exceeding performance standards set by the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council, the global semic

Jan. 29, 2026

SK hynix to launch new US-based AI solution firm

South Korean tech giant SK hynix Inc. said Wednesday it will launch a new US-based artificial intelligence arm, committing a $10 billion investment. SK hynix said in a release that the new subsidiary, tentatively named AI Co., will focus on "securing opportunities in the emerging AI era." The new entity will be launched by restructuring SK hynix's existing US arm, SK hynix NAND Product Solutions Corp., also known as Solidigm. SK hynix will instead launch a separate subsidiary named Solidigm Inc.

Jan. 28, 2026

Galaxy AI vs. Siri: Samsung's head start meets Apple's AI reset

If Samsung were to design its ideal Galaxy AI user to showcase a product launch, they might look a lot like Kim Duk-jin, a professor at Sejong Cyber University who has spent over a decade helping Korean audiences make sense of new technologies. Since 2024, he has relied on numerous Galaxy AI features in both his work and everyday life, which he shares widely through lectures and national media. But in early 2025, Kim also bought an iPhone 16 Pro — not to switch platforms, but out of curiosity ab

Jan. 28, 2026

SK hynix claims Korea’s profit crown on AI chip boom

SK hynix posted a record profit in 2025, as surging demand for artificial intelligence memory chips more than doubled its operating profit and allowed the company to overtake Samsung Electronics as South Korea’s most profitable listed firm by operating income. In a regulatory filing Wednesday, the chipmaker reported annual sales of 97.1 trillion won ($70.4 billion) and an operating profit of 47.2 trillion won, both all-time highs. The operating profit surpassed Samsung Electronics’ preliminary f

Jan. 28, 2026