SK Hynix to double wafer capacity to ease memory chip crunch
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SK Hynix is responding to an endemic deficit of storage chips that could last till 2030, company chairman Chey Tae-won told reporters.
PHOTO: REUTERS
taipei – SK Hynix plans to double its memory chip wafer capacity over the coming half-decade, in a major expansion that should help ease a global shortage of an essential component of artificial intelligence.
The company is responding to an endemic deficit of storage chips that could last till 2030, chairman Chey Tae-won told reporters in Taipei. SK Hynix is ramping up spending to address the demand-supply imbalance, though he would not say how much capital the South Korean company intends to set aside for that purpose.
SK Hynix, which, along with Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology, dominates the global market for memory, is one of the biggest beneficiaries of a global data centre build-out.
Trillions of dollars in projected spending by hyperscalers such as Meta Platforms sent SK Hynix’s and Micron’s market valuations past the US$1 trillion (S$1.28 trillion) mark for the first time last week.
Memory chips, used to store and funnel the large amounts of data required for AI services, have become one of the biggest bottlenecks to AI development.
Investors and analysts expect memory shortages to last till the end of 2027, giving their makers, such as SK Hynix, unusual pricing power over the world’s largest technology companies. BLOOMBERG
