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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] SK Hynix will invest a total of KRW 31 trillion (approximately USD 22.8 billion) to complete its first fabrication plant at the Yongin semiconductor cluster in Gyeonggi Province, accelerating the facility’s initial start-up by about three months to meet surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI) memory chips.
SK Hynix said Tuesday that its board of directors approved the full investment plan for Yongin Cluster Fab 1, with spending scheduled through the end of 2030.
Fab 1 is being developed in six phases. In July 2024, SK Hynix committed KRW 9.4 trillion to Phase 1 construction and the initial infrastructure required to operate the cluster. The company has now finalized an additional KRW 21.61 trillion investment to build Phases 2 through 6. The figures do not include equipment procurement costs.
The company also moved forward the first production date for Fab 1 to February 2027 from the previously planned May 2027. SK Hynix said the earlier ramp-up is intended to allow faster and more flexible responses to strong AI-related semiconductor demand from global big-tech customers.
“By continuously expanding production capacity based on large-scale investment, we aim to strengthen customer trust and further solidify our leadership in the global semiconductor market,” the company said.
Fab 1 will produce next-generation DRAM products, including high-bandwidth memory (HBM). SK Hynix added that the facility will be prepared to manufacture other products as needed, depending on market demand at the time of completion.
SK Hynix plans to build four advanced fabs on a 1.97 million-square-meter site within the 4.16 million-square-meter Yongin semiconductor cluster in Wonsam-myeon, Yongin. The company also intends to establish a semiconductor ecosystem with around 50 domestic and overseas materials, components, and equipment suppliers.
The total investment for the Yongin semiconductor cluster is projected at KRW 600 trillion, to be deployed in phases.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
