Korean chip stocks sink on China DRAM fears; KOSPI ends down 5.5%
China’s CXMT says denser “4F²” server memory is coming by year-end. Samsung shares fell 7.4% and SK hynix 10.1% on Oct. 13.
Updated
At a chip conference on Oct. 10, 2026, Cao Kanyu, who heads ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), presented the company’s “4F²” DRAM design and said CXMT plans to launch DDR5 server memory modules based on it by year-end, TrendForce reported. In today’s mainstream 6F² designs, each memory cell takes up six times the square of the smallest feature size; 4F² cuts that to four times, a change that could pack roughly 30% to 50% more memory into the same area.
The selloff deepened on Tuesday, Oct. 13. Samsung Electronics fell 7.4% to 232,000 won and SK hynix dropped 10.1% to 1.443 million won, after losing 4.4% and 4.5% on Monday, Korea JoongAng Daily reported; analysts tied the declines to reports of CXMT’s progress. South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index ended the day down 5.5% as foreign selling of chip shares accelerated, the Korea Economic Daily reported. Losses in US tech stocks and the wait for US inflation data also weighed on the market, JoongAng reported, and buying support weakened as the two chipmakers’ share buybacks had ended or were nearly done.
Big questions remain. TrendForce said CXMT’s year-end target “appears particularly ambitious” and noted that commercial availability doesn’t necessarily mean readiness for high-volume production. CXMT also hasn’t disclosed speeds or capacities, Tom’s Hardware reported. The company held 9.5% of global DRAM revenue in the second quarter, behind Samsung (39.4%), SK hynix (24.9%) and Micron (23.3%), according to TrendForce. For now, markets are pricing in a plan, not a product.
Not investment advice. This article is for general information only and does not recommend buying or selling any asset.
Sources
- TrendForce: CXMT Accelerates 4F² DRAM Push, Eyes Year-End Server DDR5 RDIMM Launch (Oct. 12, 2026)
- Korea JoongAng Daily: Samsung, SK hynix shares plunge on ‘Black Tuesday’ amid concerns over Chinese chip (Oct. 13, 2026)
- Korea JoongAng Daily: Stocks open sharply lower on U.S. losses, inflation concerns (Oct. 13, 2026)
- Korea Economic Daily (KED Global): Kospi tumbles as chip rout deepens, briefly breaking below 6,000 (Oct. 13, 2026)
- Tom’s Hardware: CXMT says its first 4F² DRAM will be a server DDR5 RDIMM due by year-end (Oct. 13, 2026)
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Korean chip stocks sink on China DRAM fears; KOSPI ends down 5.5%
China’s CXMT says denser “4F²” server memory is coming by year-end. Samsung shares fell 7.4% and SK hynix 10.1% on Oct. 13.
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