Further acceleration in memory investment

Research evidence excerpt

Further acceleration in memory investment

13 July 2026

Mizuho Securities Equity Research Semiconductor Device Production Equipment

Industry Overview

Suppliers to equipment manufacturers are key

Senior Analyst: Summary

Yoshitsugu Yamamoto We recently raised our outlook for the WFE market in our 6 July report, but

+81 3 6202 8169 since this report, there have been announcements regarding the earlier-than-

yoshitsugu.yamamoto@mizuho-sc.com planned construction of new fabs. Major projects not included in our WFE

market outlook include: 1) Terafab (a development line in Austin and a mass

production line in Dallas); 2) SK Hynix’s M17; and 3) Samsung’s Yongin fab.

The Yongin fab has been reported on by Bloomberg and other media outlets,

but Samsung has yet to make an official announcement.

SK Hynix’s M17 is a NAND fab. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027,

with operations starting in 1H 2029. Until now, memory makers have been

cautious about investing in NAND as profit margins had been lower for NAND

than DRAM. However, now profit margins have sufficiently risen to the point

where companies are starting to plan new fab construction. Memory makers

that decided to build new plants ahead of the pack are likely to increase their

market share in the next cycle.

If media reports are accurate, Samsung’s Yongin fab is running ahead of

schedule. In the past, the company has faced issues around the duration of

its factory builds and difficulties in securing water and electricity. Construction

is expected to begin in 2027, with operations starting in 2029. The Yongin fab

will reportedly consist of multiple plants, and each plant will likely have multiple

cleanrooms. We expect this to be used to increase capacity for DRAM and

NAND.