SK hynix weighs shifting memory chip fabrication to the United States amid policy pressure

SK hynix is exploring several pathways to bring memory-chip fabrication to the United States, including leasing part of Intel's unfinished Ohio fabs or creating a venture with Intel and large cloud firms seeking secure supplies. The company already broke ground on a $4 billion Indiana site that will receive Korean-made DRAM wafers and assemble high-bandwidth memory from 2029, but the wafers themselves would still be produced in Korea.

Higher construction and labor costs make U.S. front-end production expensive, yet up to $458 million in CHIPS Act funding and possible multi-year volume commitments from cloud customers could offset the premium. A separate discussion involves Solidigm, SK hynix’s U.S. NAND subsidiary, which is also weighing a domestic NAND plant. Despite the interest, SK hynix says no specific plans have been finalized, while continuing major capacity expansions in Korea, including new DRAM and NAND fabs in Yongin and Cheongju.