Samsung and SK Hynix, the two South Korean companies that dominate the global memory chip market, raised their combined semiconductor investment by 35.1% in the first half of 2026.
The two spent 43.198 trillion won on chip facilities over the period, according to semi-annual reports cited by the Korean outlet Etoday.
Samsung's device solutions division accounted for 25.603 trillion won, up 23.5% on a year earlier, while SK Hynix spent 17.595 trillion won, up 56.4%.
Both companies ran their plants at full capacity throughout the half.
Research and development budgets also rose sharply, with SK Hynix nearly doubling its spending to 6.043 trillion won.
Despite the higher outlay and full utilisation, there has been no sign of a build-up in unsold inventory across the supply chain.
That absence supports the view that the current upturn will last far longer than memory cycles typically have, defying an industry long defined by sharp booms and busts.
The reports also showed Nvidia loosening its grip on the sector's customer lists.
Nvidia accounted for 13.35% of SK Hynix's first-half revenue, down from 24% for the whole of 2025, according to the Seoul Economic Daily, as the chipmaker's rivals in custom silicon diversified their suppliers.
The outlet M Today reported that Nvidia was absent altogether from Samsung's top five customers, which were Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Hong Kong Techtronics and Supreme Electronics, together making up about 25% of revenue.
Analysts attribute Nvidia's slipping share to faster growth in demand for standard server memory, rather than any weakness in its own business.
