China's AI chip race is pushing the semiconductor bottleneck into advanced packaging and testing, where HPC, HBM, Chiplets and domestic substitution are driving a new capacity cycle.
Hanmi Semiconductor has launched FC Bonder 3.5, a new flip-chip bonding tool for AI system semiconductor packaging, as the South Korean equipment maker looks to broaden its advanced packaging business beyond TC bonders for high-bandwidth memory and supply global foundry and OSAT customers, ETNews and Yonhap reported.
Samsung Group is expected to announce a domestic investment plan worth more than KRW1,000 trillion (approx. US$648 billion) on June 29, when South Korean President Lee Jae-myung chairs a public briefing at the presidential office in Seoul on what his administration is calling the country's "three mega-projects for a great leap forward," Maeil Business Newspaper reported.
SK Hynix is racing to complete the first cleanroom at its massive Yongin Semiconductor Cluster in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, by February 2027, ahead of rival capacity expansion timelines. The site's first fabrication facility will break from conventional flat-floor layouts, stacking production floors three levels high in a pioneering triple-deck fab design.
CXMT's IPO highlights the growing geopolitical fragmentation of the global semiconductor industry, strengthening China's ability to finance domestic DRAM expansion and reduce reliance on foreign capital and technology. As supply chains increasingly split along regional lines, the listing reinforces Beijing's push for memory self-sufficiency and reshapes competitive dynamics in global markets.
SK Siltron is preparing to bring a new silicon wafer manufacturing facility online in South Korea next month. The expansion comes as AI data center investment helps lift wafer shipments, while pricing remains under pressure as capacity added during the last expansion cycle continues to weigh on the market.
Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Jae-yong visited the company's Cheonan plant on June 23 to review high-bandwidth memory production operations, as cumulative revenue from the company's latest HBM generation has crossed the US$1 billion mark and demand tied to AI chips continues to rise.
