According to reports, the Samsung Group is set to unveil an advanced industry investment plan exceeding 1000 trillion won on June 29 at the Blue House. This represents not only the largest investment in the history of Samsung and South Korean enterprises but also an amount equivalent to half of the nation's GDP. Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jeon Young-hyun is expected to attend the briefing, with SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung also present. CEOs of major South Korean corporations will gather at the Blue House to announce their respective investment plans for regions outside the capital area. The event is of the highest level, to be personally presided over by South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. A senior Blue House spokesperson indicated that the June 29 briefing is officially titled the "Briefing on the Three National Projects for the Great Leap Forward of the Republic of Korea." President Lee Jae-myung, discussing this national-level briefing, emphasized the necessity of "ushering in an era of inclusive growth where the capital area and local regions prosper together by establishing new industrial and economic foundations in the provinces."
Samsung's timing for announcing this investment, comparable in scale to half the GDP, is not coincidental. The memory chip sector is currently experiencing a super-cycle driven by artificial intelligence. Samsung aims to leverage this massive investment to maintain its technological lead over competitors, identify new growth engines, and actively support the government's policy for balanced regional development. Industry sources revealed on Tuesday that sales of Samsung Electronics' sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory chip, HBM4, have already surpassed $10 billion. Samsung became the world's first chipmaker to mass-produce and ship HBM4 in February of this year. Reaching $10 billion in sales took just over a quarter. Industry insiders project that cumulative sales of HBM4 will exceed $12 billion by the end of June.
From a valuation perspective, South Korean chip stocks appear particularly compelling. A recent report from SK Securities noted that the 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratios for Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and SK Hynix Inc are currently around just 6 times, indicating they remain among the most inexpensive stocks in all AI-related bottleneck sectors based on their share prices. Meanwhile, Jefferies research head Jeff Kim suggested that Samsung might follow SK Hynix's example by listing American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) in the United States, a move that could boost the share prices of South Korean chipmakers, which have lagged behind peers like Micron. He stated, "Chip stocks are at an inflection point. ADRs will be an important catalyst to drive their valuations."
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