A South Korean media outlet reported on the 22nd that SK Hynix is in negotiations with Intel to acquire a semiconductor campus in Ohio, with the goal of producing memory chips in the United States within five years. On the same day, SK Hynix issued a clarification announcement, explicitly stating that "there is no fact that we are promoting or have decided to acquire Intel's Ohio site and wafer fab (Fab)," while simultaneously acknowledging that it "continuously evaluates various investment and acquisition opportunities."
SK Hynix has clearly denied reports that it is advancing the acquisition of Intel's Ohio semiconductor campus, but the company's general direction of building a factory in the U.S. has become largely clear.
South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo reported on July 22, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter, that SK Hynix is in negotiations with Intel to acquire a semiconductor campus in Ohio, aiming to produce memory chips in the United States within five years.
The report immediately drew widespread market attention. On the same day, SK Hynix issued a clarification announcement, explicitly stating that "there is no fact that we are promoting or have decided to acquire Intel's Ohio site and wafer fab (Fab)," while simultaneously acknowledging that it "continuously evaluates various investment and acquisition opportunities."
Despite the denial of the acquisition rumors, pressure on SK Hynix to expand its U.S. production footprint continues. The company's Chief Financial Officer Kim Woo-hyun signed the aforementioned clarification announcement.
Reports Claim Negotiations Ongoing; SK Hynix Denies
The South Korean media report cited an "anonymous source familiar with the internal situation at SK Hynix," stating that acquisition negotiations with Intel have entered a substantive stage, with "internal review and government approval processes underway," and that the acquisition price and timing are still under discussion.
Intel's Ohio campus is located in New Albany. Ground was broken in 2022, and major foundational work such as concrete pouring and steel structures has been completed. The total planned area is approximately 4.04 million square meters, with space for up to eight wafer fabs. Full development is estimated to cost around $100 billion. Intel originally planned to invest approximately $28 billion in the first phase to complete two factories, "Fab 27" and "Fab 28," by 2025. However, due to difficulties in expanding its foundry business customer base and financial pressures, the factory start-up timeline has been postponed to 2030-2031.
In response to the above report, SK Hynix issued a statement on the Korea Exchange's clarification announcement platform, explicitly denying the existence of any advancement or decision regarding the acquisition. However, the wording left room, not ruling out the possibility of future related evaluations.
U.S. Pressure Exists; Direction for U.S. Factory Construction Already Set
Against the backdrop of denying the acquisition rumors, SK Hynix's strategic intent to expand production in the U.S. has been publicly confirmed through statements from senior management. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won stated at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Summer Forum in Jeju Island on July 15, "Current memory chip prices are abnormally high, requiring expanded supply to lower prices," and explicitly proposed, "We need to build semiconductor factories not only in Honam but also in the United States. We are currently looking for sites and need to proceed quickly."
Pressure from the U.S. government is an important context. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, speaking at a Micron New York factory event on the 10th of this month, expressed hope to "summon Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to build production facilities in the United States." The semiconductor industry widely interprets this statement as an extension of U.S. demands from back-end packaging to the localization of front-end production for memory chips like DRAM.
Currently, SK Hynix is investing approximately $3.87 billion in Indiana to build a High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) packaging production base, expected to commence operations in 2028. Samsung Electronics is advancing a roughly $37 billion project for an advanced foundry and R&D facility in Taylor, Texas.
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