Samsung and SK Hynix face China dilemma from U.S. export controls

Memory chipmakers have 1-year waiver for Chinese operations, but what then?

Samsung and SK Hynix are under pressure to reassess their production strategies following the latest U.S. chip curbs on China.

KIM JAEWON and CHENG TING-FANG, Nikkei staff writers

October 25, 2022 13:26 JST

SEOUL/TAIPEI -- Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix remain under pressure to come up with a Plan B for producing memory chips in China after the U.S. gave the companies a partial exemption from its latest crackdown on Beijing's tech ambitions.

The two South Korean chipmakers obtained a one-year waiver to continue to use semiconductor equipment containing American technology in China -- one of the targets of Washington's curbs.