Production Line in Korea to Be Relocated to China
SK Hynix System IC, a subsidiary of SK Hynix, will close down its M8 plant in Cheongju, Korea in February 2022 and relocate all its equipment to its plant in Wuxi, China by May.
SK Hynix spun off Sk Hynix System IC in July 2017 to strengthen its foundry business. The subsidiary produces semiconductors based on 8-inch wafers, including CMOS image sensors (CIS), display driving ICs (DDIs) and power management integrated circuits (PMIC). These products are in high demand these days amid a semiconductor shortage.
In September 2018, SK Hynix System IC established a joint venture with Wuxi Industry Development Group (WIDG), a company established by the city government of Wuxi, China, and started building a factory. The move is aimed at taking up a larger share of the rapidly growing Chinese market, which has more than 1,500 fabless companies.
Following the completion of the plant in the first quarter of 2020, SK Hynix System IC began to relocate the M8 plant’s equipment to China in the second half of last year, beginning a partial operation of the new plant. The company will leave its R&D facilities in Korea.
SK Hynix System IC is expected to complete the relocation in the first half of next year and start to make a foray into the 8-inch market in China in earnest. The Wuxi plant is capable of processing 100,000 sheets of 8-inch wafers a month.
SK Hynix is expanding its 8-inch foundry business. It has re-acquired Key Foundry, which it sold off 17 years ago in the process of downsizing. If Key Foundry is completely acquired, SK Hynix's foundry capacity will rise to about 200,000 sheets of 8-inch wafers, including that of SK Hynix System IC.