Samsung Electronics is building another chip facility at its Pyeongtaek campus in South Korea as it forecasts persistent memory supply constraints amid rising demand tied to AI infrastructure.
Gyeonggi Province said after an Oct. 1 site inspection that Samsung's P1 through P4 production lines are operating and P5 is under construction. The status of the existing lines shows where the company is producing chips as it continues work on the next facility.
Samsung's second-quarter results projected faster demand growth in the second half of 2026 for high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, enterprise solid-state drives and server DRAM. It forecast continued supply constraints despite efforts to increase production. The company cited AI infrastructure spending and wider adoption of agentic AI as demand drivers.
Samsung began commercial shipments of HBM4 in February. The company also said higher industry prices had helped its memory business in the second quarter. Those shipments and results describe activity already underway; its supply outlook remains a forecast.
Customers have booked about 80% of Samsung's planned 2027 memory output, KB Securities estimated. Its research chief, Kim Dong-won, said five-year agreements with global technology companies cover 70% of planned conventional DRAM and NAND flash production. Separate commitments cover all of Samsung's projected HBM output for 2027, he said.
Samsung's preliminary third-quarter guidance put sales at about 195 trillion won and operating profit at about 107.4 trillion won. The company has scheduled its earnings call for Oct. 28 at 9 p.m. ET (01:00 UTC Oct. 29).
