SK Hynix announces 54 trillion won (~$38B+) expansion plan for new HBM/DRAM/NAND fabs in South Korea, explicitly targeting AI memory dominance amid hyperscaler capex frenzy.
SK Hynix is accelerating its AI infrastructure ambitions with a 54 trillion won ($38 billion) investment to expand production of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips. The South Korean manufacturer plans to construct two dedicated semiconductor factories to increase HBM output capacity.
The announcement builds on record-breaking financial performance. SK Hynix reported 79.3 trillion won in revenue and 60.5 trillion won in net profit, driven by surging demand for AI memory chips. The company has begun shipping its new HBM4 memory chips to clients, cementing its position as a critical supplier in the AI infrastructure ecosystem.
HBM has become essential to modern AI hardware architecture. Advanced packaging technologies allow multiple HBM stacks to be integrated alongside processors, delivering the high-bandwidth data throughput and performance that AI systems demand. As a leading supplier to NVIDIA, SK Hynix plays a foundational role in AI infrastructure provisioning—a relationship underscored by a recent $500 billion partnership agreement between NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and SK Group.
SK Hynix will deploy 35.2 trillion won toward expanding its Y2 DRAM production facility at Yongin and 19.1 trillion won toward building the M17 NAND flash facility at the Cheongju campus. Both additions complement existing investments in the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster and other Cheongju production sites. In the first quarter of 2026, SK Hynix captured 58 percent of global HBM revenue, according to Counterpoint Research.
Construction timelines span multiple years. The Y2 DRAM plant will begin construction in July 2027, with cleanroom completion expected by June 2029. The M17 NAND plant will commence construction in February 2027 and reach completion by December 2028. Industry analyst Omdia projects that global demand for DRAM and NAND will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 19 percent through 2030, with memory products expected to generate more than half of semiconductor manufacturers' total revenue through 2026—validating SK Hynix's confidence in long-term AI-driven demand.