Samsung restarts fifth fab at Pyeongtaek as AI memory demand surges

Samsung's Pyeongtaek complex sits in a farming city south of Seoul, where rice paddies abut a chipmaking campus about the size of New York City's Central Park. The company halted construction of a fifth fab during a drop in memory demand in 2024, then restarted it when the AI boom sent demand soaring. Samsung now predicts demand for memory chips will continue to surge through 2028. For years the company watched its domestic rival SK Hynix pull ahead in the global market for high-bandwidth memory that powers Nvidia's AI accelerators, while TSMC dominated the foundry business. The Pyeongtaek build-out is Samsung's attempt to reclaim its lead on memory chips. The site is a major employer: thousands of workers in black uniforms and sky-blue vests pour out of the fabs at lunchtime, and hundreds of women work on site, many as spotters who walk ahead of heavy equipment. Safety messages are everywhere, from banners reading 'Even if the work runs late, don't rush' to a giant LED scoreboard announcing a poem contest about safety. Hye-rin, a 35-year-old safety officer, says she has no plans to leave because the pay is higher than at other sites and the work is relatively easy.