End of Monopoly: Samsung and SK Hynix Stocks Crash Over Fear of PRC Chips

The Asian semiconductor market is experiencing a double shock. On July 28, 2026, shares of Korean giants Samsung and SK Hynix went into a steep dive. The sell-off is provoked not only by the correction on Wall Street but also by fundamental geopolitical shifts.

Investors are dumping papers due to the growing threat from Chinese manufacturers (CXMT and YMTC, which we wrote about on July 24). Beijing’s technological sovereignty strategy has worked: local factories have gained production mass and begun to aggressively dump prices in the memory market. Korean chaebols are losing their exclusive margin premium. The AI hardware supply chain is ceasing to be a "Korean-Taiwanese" monopoly. Amid the cooling of Western AI CAPEX, fierce competition from mainland China is turning HBM memory production into a low-margin business, frightening institutional shareholders.

Source: Reuters / The Edge Malaysia