Samsung's semiconductor division gets a 62% spending boost after a record quarter, with further increases planned for 2027
Samsung Electronics is spending like a company that can’t build chips fast enough. The reason is simple: it can’t.
The Korean giant raised its 2026 capital spending plan for semiconductors to 76.8 trillion won, and it plans to spend even more in 2027. The move comes as demand for AI memory chips keeps outrunning what factories can supply.
The numbers behind the spending spree
Samsung announced the revised guidance on October 29, 2026. Total capital investment for the year is now expected to reach 84.4 trillion won, or approximately $59–63 billion.
The lion’s share goes to the Device Solutions division, Samsung’s semiconductor arm. Its 76.8 trillion won allocation marks a 62% increase over the previous year.
Samsung Display, by comparison, gets 3.9 trillion won.
Samsung posted a record operating profit of 107.4 trillion won for the third quarter. The semiconductor unit alone contributed 106.5 trillion won of that total.
Chip profits jumped 15-fold from a year earlier. Memory revenue climbed 427% year over year to 140.7 trillion won.
The engine behind those figures is high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, along with server DRAM. HBM stacks memory chips vertically so they can feed data to AI processors at enormous speed.
Samsung’s newest generation, HBM4, accounted for approximately 60% of the company’s HBM revenue in the third quarter. Samsung has long-term supply agreements in place with 10 major customers.
Perhaps the most telling detail: Samsung’s HBM supply for 2027 is fully booked. The company is effectively sold out of next year’s product before next year has started.
Why Samsung is betting bigger
Samsung expects the gap between chip supply and demand to persist through 2028.
The company anticipates historic capex levels for AI infrastructure in 2027.
Its investment priorities include upgrading fabrication facilities, expanding AI infrastructure and building out its planned foundry plant in Texas. Mass production at the Texas site is set to begin in 2027.
Wall Street wasn’t impressed
Despite record profits and a sold-out product line, Samsung shares fell approximately 6% after the announcement.
Investors flagged two concerns. The first was an unclear strategy for returning cash to shareholders. The second was a more cautious market outlook compared with rival SK Hynix.
What this means for the chip market
Samsung’s capex hike sends a clear signal about how the industry’s biggest players view AI demand. A 62% spending increase is not a hedge. It is a statement that the company expects buyers to absorb every chip it can produce.
With 2027 HBM already booked and shortages expected through 2028, relief is not arriving soon.
Customers without long-term supply agreements may find themselves at the back of a very long line. Samsung’s deals with 10 major customers suggest the biggest buyers have already locked in their allocation.
