SK Hynix Dramatically Expands Yongin Semiconductor Investment to $410 Billion Amid AI Memory Chip Surge

SK hynix expands investment plan for new semiconductor cluster in South Korea to $410 billion

TL;DR: SK hynix has increased its investment in the Yongin semiconductor cluster from $85 billion to $410 billion to meet soaring DRAM chip and AI demand. The expanded project includes larger clean rooms and taller fabs, positioning Yongin as a key global memory chip production hub with significant market impact. SK hynix has just mega-boosted its investment plans for its Yongin semiconductor cluster, where initially proposing an $85 billion investment, expanding that to a whopping $410 billion investment thanks to unstoppable DRAM chip and AI demand. In a new report from Korea JoongAng Daily, the outlet reports that a meeting was held over the weekend with South Korean president Lee Jae Myung, and the leaders of major South Korean conglomerates including SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who said SK hynix plans to increase its investment into the Yongin semiconductor cluster in South Korea, from an initially proposed 128 trillion won ($85.5 billion USD) to a gigantic 600 trillion won ($410 billion USD) in Yongin alone. Chey said during Sunday's televised meeting: "The amount of investment continues to change, following the growing demand for memory chips and upgrades of the manufacturing process. While it is difficult to estimate the exact amount, around 600 trillion won will be invested in Yongin alone". According to industry sources, the Yongin government recently increased the floor area ratio at the semiconductor fab site to 490% from the previous 350%, while the building height limit was eased from 150m from the earlier 120m. The adjustments to the plans that were originally unveiled back in 2019 are because SK hynix plans to expand the combined size of the clean room at the next-gen chip cluster by 50% to further increase production capacity to help out through the AI boom. SK hynix's new Yongin semiconductor cluster will have 4 fans, each equivalent in size to 6 of its M15X fabs that were recently built in Cheongju, North Chungcheong for a cost of close to 20 trillion won ($13 billion USD or so). This means that each of the new semiconductor fabs at the Yongin cluster will cost 120 trillion won, or 480 trillion ($327 billion USD) for 4 of them. Industry experts suggest that with inflation and the pace of technological development in the production equipment, the new adjusted 600 trillion ($410 billion USD) investment target "may be reasonable". An industry watcher said: "As the Yongin semiconductor cluster boasts massive capacity, each fab built will have a significant impact on the global memory chip market. The company's responsiveness to the sharply rising global memory chip demand will depend on the progress of the project".

SK hynix set to boost AI readiness with expanded Yongin investment: experts - The Korea Times

SK hynix expanded investment plan for its new chip cluster will bolster its responsiveness to soaring global demand for memory chips amid the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, industry watchers said Tuesday. During a meeting held Sunday with President Lee Jae Myung and leaders of other major conglomerates, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said SK hynix aims to increase investment in the Yongin semiconductor cluster, just south of Seoul, beyond the initially proposed 128 trillion won ($85.5 billion) by 2028. "The amount of investment continues to change, following the growing demand for memory chips and upgrades of the manufacturing process," Chey said during Sunday's televised meeting. "While it is difficult to estimate the exact amount, around 600 trillion won will be invested in Yongin alone," Chey added. According to sources, the Yongin government recently increased the floor area ratio at the site to 490 percent from the previous 350 percent, with the building height limit also eased to 150 meters from the earlier 120 meters. The adjustments to the plan initially unveiled in 2019 came as SK hynix aims to expand the combined size of the clean room at the envisioned chip cluster by 50 percent to further bolster production capacity amid the AI boom. The Yongin semiconductor cluster will have four fabs, each equivalent in size to six M15X fabs recently built in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province , with an investment of 20 trillion won. This translates into each new fab at the Yongin cluster requiring 120 trillion won, or 480 trillion won for four. Experts say that considering inflation and the pace of technological development in production equipment, the adjusted 600 trillion-won investment target may be reasonable. "As the Yongin semiconductor cluster boasts massive capacity, each fab built will have a significant impact on the global memory chip market," an industry watcher said. "The company's responsiveness to the sharply rising global memory chip demand will depend on the progress of the project," the official added.