Now that Micron is no longer allowed to ship in China, Samsung and SK Hynix can fill this gap. Whether South Korea wants that is another question.

The US and China have been locked in a trade war for several years. China no longer has access to the latest chips because they contain American technology. That bothers the People’s Republic, which is now striking with its own restriction: Micron is no longer allowed to deliver to China.

Micron is one of the Big Three memory chip vendors. The three together control 95 percent of the DRAM market and 64 percent of the NAND flash market. Strikingly, China doesn’t have the technology or manufacturing capabilities from Micron to make up for it.

That’s where Samsung and SK Hynix come in, two South Korean companies currently under pressure. Among other things, the demand for DRAM is falling, which leads to overproduction and falling prices. Micron did $3 billion worth of deals with China last year, a nice number that can mitigate the crimson numbers.

Samsung and SK Hynix in China

On the other hand, South Korea has had a new conservative leader for a year, Yoon Suk Yeol, who has warmed to the US and has just finished a visit with President Biden. Increasingly pulling on the US train, South Korea has even built logistics chains focused on technology and other economic initiatives to sideline China.

Particularly annoying: 22 percent of the world’s NAND flash chips are both made in China. According to analyst firm Trendforce, SK Hynix also owns 12 percent of global DRAM production in China.

In the coming weeks there will be an interesting game of chess between the different countries. It’s not yet clear who will draw the longest straw in the end.