Where the math is defensible.
Long-form research on live enterprise decisions. Publication is selective. Every number traces to a named source. No takes without evidence.
Korea's Memory Cycle 2026: HBM Lead, Logic Gap, Cluster Risk
SK hynix runs the HBM3e 12-Hi book at Nvidia, Samsung Memory chases qualification while its foundry yield gap widens, and the Yongin cluster meets a hard power and water ceiling.
Korea's memory complex enters 2026 with the cleanest revenue setup in a decade and the messiest strategic position in twenty years. SK hynix is the lead supplier of HBM3e 12-Hi to Nvidia for Blackwell Ultra and the Rubin ramp, holds roughly half of HBM revenue, and has a credible HBM4 roadmap pegged to 2026 risk production. Samsung Memory...
Korea memory in 2026: Samsung versus SK Hynix, NVIDIA qualification, and the HBM share war
SK Hynix turned a two year qualification lead at NVIDIA into roughly half of the global HBM market and most of its profit pool, while Samsung is rebuilding its memory business around a delayed HBM3E ramp, an HBM4 catch up plan, and a foundry separation that signals how serious Suwon now treats the gap.
High bandwidth memory has become the single most concentrated profit pool in the AI compute stack outside NVIDIA itself. TrendForce sized the HBM market at roughly USD 16 billion in 2024 and projects USD 33 billion in 2025, with SK Hynix holding about 53 percent share, Samsung 38 percent, and Micron 9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024...
Korean chipmakers in 2026: Samsung and SK Hynix between US export controls and China demand
Korea's twin giants face a structural squeeze in 2026 as Washington tightens advanced compute controls while Beijing remains their largest single market and Texas and Indiana fabs come online.
Korea sits at the center of the 2026 semiconductor trade map. Samsung and SK Hynix together produce roughly 60 percent of the world's DRAM and 45 percent of NAND, while SK Hynix dominates HBM3e shipments to Nvidia. They also operate large memory fabs inside China that depend on Validated End User authorizations from the US Bureau of Indus...
South Korea After the Reset: Lee Jae-myung, Chip Sovereignty, and BoK Normalization
Six hours of martial law on December 3, 2024, ended a presidency, reshuffled the chip race, and forced the Bank of Korea into a faster pivot than its dot plot anticipated. The Lee Jae-myung administration inherits an economy with semiconductor exports up 43.9 percent year on year, a won at 1,470 versus the dollar, the world's lowest fertility rate at 0.75, and a chaebol governance docket that the Democratic Party caucus has been drafting for two years. The reset is real, the runway is short.
On December 3, 2024, President Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law at 22:23 KST. The National Assembly convened, voted 190 to 0 to lift the decree by 04:30 KST, and impeached Yoon on December 14 by 204 to 85. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo served as acting president until his own impeachment on December 27, after which Finance Minister Choi S...