Planning to Invest in 8-inch Foundry Facilities
SK Hynix has disclosed its intention to expand investments in system semiconductors. It is planning to double the share of the foundry business in its sales. Some experts predict that SK Hynix may pursue M&A deals along with the expansion of SK Hynix System IC’s plant.
SK Hynix announced on May 13 that it welcomes the Korean government's “K Semiconductor Strategy,” which was disclosed earlier in the day, and will make massive investment to respond to it.
"We are considering doubling our 8-inch foundry capacity by expanding our domestic plant or making M&A deals," SK Hynix vice chairman Park Jung-ho said at Samsung Electronics' Pyeongtaek Campus, where the government announced its semiconductor strategy.
"Our investment in 8-inch foundry facilities will help domestic fabless companies r develop and mass produce new products. We will not only contribute to the stabilization of the global system semiconductor supply chain but also create a new growth ecosystem for domestic fabless companies."
SK Hynix System IC is an SK Hynix’s wholly owned subsidiary engaged in the foundry business. At the moment, the company’s non-memory business accounts for only two to three percent of SK Hynix's total sales. The company runs a factory in Wuxi, China, mainly producing 8-inch wafer-based CMOS image sensors (CISs) and power management ICs (PMICs).
Meanwhile, SK Innovation said that it racked up 9,239.8 billion won in sales in the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 1,562.2 billion won from a year before. The growth was attributed to spikes in oil and petrochemical product prices. The company made a turnaround by turning in an operating profit of 502.5 billion won.
However, its pre-tax profit hit a loss of 527.6 billion won due to 1,030.1 billion won in non-operating losses stemming from exchange-related losses and battery litigation settlement money.