China's rapid chipmaking expansion threatens AI memory chip boom, Samsung adviser warns - The Korea Times

People visit SEMICON China, a trade fair for semiconductor technology, in Shanghai, March 25. Reuters-Yonhap

The AI-driven "super cycle" in memory chips may lose momentum by 2028 as Chinese chipmakers aggressively expand production and global tech firms curb spending, a Samsung Electronics executive adviser said.

"South Korea's memory chip industry is performing very strongly this year and some forecasts suggest conditions could improve further next year," adviser Kyung Kye-hyun said at a forum hosted by the National Academy of Engineering of Korea. "But caution is needed for 2027, particularly 2028."

Kyung, who led Samsung's semiconductor business from December 2021 to May 2024, identified the rapid expansion of Chinese chipmakers' manufacturing capacity as a major challenge for South Korean chipmakers.

Chinese firms had already captured about 20 percent of the NAND flash market, he noted, adding that their share of the DRAM market could exceed 10 percent with support from ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT).