Via tomshardware.com
South Korea's memory chip giants are drowning in AI-driven cash, and everyone from US trade officials to labor unions wants a cut
When your quarterly profits are so large they need a new column on the spreadsheet, people start showing up at your door. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are learning that lesson in real time as their AI-fueled earnings attract attention from shareholders, governments, and workers alike, all making the same basic argument: share the wealth.
The combined operating profit for both companies hit 150 trillion won, roughly $104 billion, in Q2 2026 alone. SK Hynix is on pace to earn more profit this year than it generated in the previous 27 years combined.
The scramble for a slice #
During trade negotiations in June 2026, US officials led by Deputy USTR Rick Switzer floated a profit-sharing model. The logic, at least from Washington’s perspective, is straightforward: American tech giants are the ones buying these chips by the truckload, powering the AI infrastructure buildout that made this bonanza possible in the first place.
Back home in South Korea, Samsung’s retail shareholder group ACT has been campaigning for a proposed $32 billion buyback.
SK Hynix, meanwhile, has already formalized a profit-sharing bonus pegged at 10% of annual operating profit with no cap, effective since 2025.
The high-bandwidth money machine #
Both Samsung and SK Hynix have positioned themselves as essential suppliers in the AI stack, with record semiconductor exports from South Korea reflecting a structural shift in demand driven by AI workloads requiring a fundamentally different type of memory.
SK Hynix earmarked at least 45 trillion won in capital expenditure for 2026, a 50% increase year-over-year. Samsung is making similar bets on expanding its AI-related manufacturing capacity.
The projected combined net cash position for both firms is expected to reach $263 billion by the end of 2026.
Reinvest or redistribute #
Samsung has historically faced criticism for its capital allocation decisions. The company needs to invest heavily to catch up with SK Hynix in the HBM market while simultaneously managing demands for larger buybacks and dividends.
SK Hynix’s dominance in HBM supply to Nvidia and other AI chip designers gives it pricing power, but maintaining that position requires sustained investment. The 50% jump in capex signals that management isn’t planning to coast, but the profit-sharing bonus structure and external pressures from US trade talks add friction to the reinvestment math.
The US government’s involvement adds a geopolitical dimension that neither company can dismiss. South Korea’s semiconductor sector is a strategic asset, and Washington’s willingness to negotiate around chip profits suggests that AI supply chain dynamics are increasingly becoming a matter of economic diplomacy rather than pure market forces.
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