Kwak Noh-jeong, president and CEO of SK hynix, announced on March 27 that the order volume for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) will remain “tight” until next year, adding that “this year, the proportion of HBM in the total DRAM sales volume will rise to a double digit percentage, which will help profitability.”
During the regular shareholders’ meeting held at the SK hynix headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, President Kwak addressed a question regarding why SK hynix recorded a net loss of around 9 trillion won last year, unlike Nvidia, which had a huge performance hit. He explained that “last year, the proportion of HBM in the total DRAM sales volume was only in the single digits.” He further clarified that “the majority of DRAM products, which make up a significant portion of sales, experienced a significant price drop and weak demand.”
President Kwak also mentioned that this year, the direction of the NAND flash memory business, which was pointed out as a cause for the deficit, will be shifted towards profitability. He stated, “Despite aggressive investments in the NAND business to expand market share, the financial performance has not been satisfactory due to delayed market growth. Hence, we plan to shift the business direction from focusing on market share to focusing on profitability.”
A major investment plan in the United States is expected to be announced soon. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing sources, that SK hynix is planning to build an advanced semiconductor packaging plant in West Lafayette, western Indiana. According to the sources, SK hynix plans to invest US$4 billion (approximately 5.3 trillion won) in the construction of this plant and aims to commence operations by 2028. The SK hynix board of directors is expected to approve this decision shortly.
West Lafayette, Indiana, where the factory is to be built, is home to Purdue University, one of the universities running the largest semiconductor and microelectronics engineering programs in the United States.
SK hynix also considered Arizona, where the semiconductor industry is rapidly growing with the presence of factories from Taiwanese semiconductor company TSMC and Intel. However, it ultimately chose Indiana, taking into account the advantage of securing an engineering pool through Purdue University, according to sources. In response to this, President Kwak stated, “It is under review but not confirmed.”