SK Hynix’s Board Approved $38b Investment to Expand its Chipmaking capacity in South Korea
Quick Reads
- SK Hynix’s board approved $38 billion (54.3 trillion won) for two new chip plants in South Korea, running through 2031.
- The money is split between a Yongin DRAM/HBM facility and a Cheongju NAND flash plant, both aimed at feeding surging AI demand.
SK Hynix’s board has approved a $38 billion investment to expand its chipmaking capacity in South Korea, doubling down on memory production as artificial intelligence demand reshapes the global semiconductor market. The SK Hynix $38 billion investment covers 54.3 trillion won in spending through 2031, split between two flagship facilities: 35.2 trillion won for the second phase of its Yongin fab, known as “Y2,” and 19.1 trillion won for the M17 plant in Cheongju.
Y2 will become the second of four planned fabs in the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, producing DRAM and high-bandwidth memory chips critical to powering AI servers. Construction begins in July 2027, with the first cleanroom opening in June 2029. The M17 facility, dedicated to NAND flash memory, breaks ground in February next year, with production expected by December 2028.
The move builds on a broader plan SK Hynix outlined in June, when it signaled intentions to pour 600 trillion won into the Yongin cluster and 100 trillion won into Cheongju over the long term. Friday’s board approval turns that roadmap into committed capital.
Memory prices have surged this year, fueled by tight supply and surging demand from AI infrastructure builders and chipmakers like Nvidia, who need vast quantities of HBM. That rally has lifted shares across SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron, though Samsung has reclaimed the top spot in global DRAM market share, sharply intensifying competition industry-wide.
