SK hynix (000660) has officially begun construction of a 5.7 trillion won semiconductor production base in the United States. SK hynix's plan is to strengthen its semiconductor leadership by directly producing and supplying AI memory, including High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), to customers in the U.S., where global big tech companies such as Nvidia are concentrated.

According to industry sources on the 21st, SK hynix began piling work on the 17th (local time) for its advanced semiconductor packaging plant to be built in West Lafayette, Indiana. Piling is foundation work that secures pillars supporting the building into the ground. Construction has begun in earnest on the so-called Indiana Fab, which SK hynix plans to build on a 560,000-square-meter site at a cost of $3.87 billion (approximately 5.7 trillion won).

SK hynix plans to begin operations at the Indiana Fab in the second quarter of 2028, making it its first semiconductor production base in the U.S. Through this, following its Cheongju and Icheon fabs, the company will produce flagship products such as HBM in the U.S. as well, and supply them directly to local big tech companies. Based on the schedule, it is expected to focus on production of HBM4E and HBM5, next-generation HBM products to be released after next year.

Domestically, SK hynix has also decided to build four ultra-large fabs at the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, with the first plant set to begin operations in February next year, followed by the others sequentially. Through this, the company aims to increase production of flagship products such as HBM and strengthen its response to market share competition with Samsung Electronics and Micron.

SK hynix has launched "AI Company," a subsidiary dedicated to AI investment in the U.S., and through cooperation with big tech companies, plans to expand its business beyond memory to AI solutions as a whole.

By: DocMemory
Copyright © 2023 CST, Inc. All Rights Reserved