SK Hynix announced it plans to expand production capacity of the DRAM including HBM, a component of the AI infrastructure.
SK Hynix, a leading semiconductor company, will build the M15X fab in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, for a new DRAM production base, and invest about 5.3 trillion won for fab construction.
SK Hynix plans to start construction at the end of April with an aim to complete in November 2025 for an early mass production. The total investment in building the new production base will be more than 20 trillion won or nearly $15 billion in the long-term, SK Hynix said.
HBM is expected to grow more than 60 percent annually. SK Hynix forecasts that demand for general DRAM will be on a steady rise led by high-capacity DDR5 module products for servers.
As HBM requires at least twice as large capabilities to secure the same production as general DRAM products, SK hynix decided that increasing DRAM capabilities with a focus on HBM is a precondition for future growth.
SK Hynix plans to produce new DRAM from the M15X in Cheongju before the completion of the first fab in Yongin Semiconductor Cluster in the first half of 2027.
Separately, SK hynix will proceed with other domestic investments including the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, where it will to inject approximately 120 trillion won, as planned.
The company plans to start construction of the first fab in Yongin in March next year and complete it in May 2027.
Since incorporation into SK Group in 2012, SK hynix has invested an accumulated 46 trillion won since 2014 to build three new fabs — M14 in Icheon, M15 in Cheongju in 2018, and M16 in Icheon in 2021 – in Korea in accordance with its Future Vision initiative.
“With transformation into a key facility that supplies AI memories to the world, M15X will play a pivotal role as stepping stone connecting the company’s present and future,” said Kwak Noh-Jung, President and CEO of SK Hynix.
Baburajan Kizhakedath
