Chips · Oct 20, 2026, 10:13
Samsung Restarts Fab 5 at Pyeongtaek to Chase SK hynix in HBM
Samsung is bringing a fourth Pyeongtaek fab online and restarted a fifth it paused in 2024, a bid to win back HBM share from SK hynix in AI memory.
Samsung's Pyeongtaek campus.
Image: Samsung
Source · Samsung Newsroom media image, provided for press and editorial use · License
Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Oct. 20 — Samsung is expanding its Pyeongtaek chipmaking complex south of Seoul, with three fabs running around the clock, a fourth coming online and work restarted on a fifth. The company paused the fifth fab in 2024, when memory demand fell, and resumed it once AI orders surged.
The target is AI memory. GPUs rely on stacks of high-bandwidth memory packaged next to the processor, and Samsung expects memory demand to keep climbing through 2028.
The Technical Details
MIT Technology Review, which visited the site, describes a campus about the size of Central Park in New York, with thousands of construction workers on shift. Samsung has watched SK hynix pull ahead in the HBM that feeds NVIDIA's accelerators, and Pyeongtaek is its attempt to retake the lead.
- Fabs in operation: 3, running around the clock
- Fab 4: coming online
Sources
- A visit to Samsung’s massive new semiconductor hub · MIT Technology Review · AI
