Attention is focusing on whether SK Hynix will make another big deal following its acquisition of Intel's NAND business division last year.
SK Hynix Vice Chairman Park Jung-ho said at the World IT Show held at COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul on April 21 that he plans to expand his investment in the foundry. This is the first time that Vice Chairman Park has publicly announced a plan to expand investment in the foundry.
Vice Chairman Park said, "Many semiconductor design companies in Korea say that they can develop technologies or services if we provide foundry services that are at the level of Taiwan's TSMC technology. Although Samsung is doing such business, we are also planning to invest a lot."
"It is important to acquire a small semiconductor company in Korea, but it is more urgent to prepare for a big move in the U.S., where the semiconductor market is rapidly changing," Vice Chairman Park said at an event last week.
Currently, Taiwan's TSMC and Samsung Electronics are continuing their two-way race. Due to the recent shortage of semiconductors for vehicles, the supply of semiconductors throughout the semiconductor market is not keeping up with demand.
In the meantime, Vice Chairman Park's remarks emphasizing semiconductor investment again are raising expectations for SK Hynix's large investment.
According to related industries, global foundry demand is certain to increase and major foundry companies have maintained a 100% operation rate since the end of last year.
Industries believe that SK Hynix is also considering increasing investments in foundry fields as semiconductor expansion is currently focused on the foundry.
Through SK Telecom's plan to reorganize its governance structure, its new investment company is showing the willingness to invest in semiconductors in earnest.
However, some say that the possibility of SK's investment in the long term cannot be ruled out as it could lead to overlapping investments and oversupply of semiconductors as many companies are making large investments.
Meanwhile, SK Hynix signed a contract in October last year to acquire Intel's entire NAND business for 10.31 trillion won ($9.3 billion). This is to strengthen NAND flash business, which is relatively weak compared to DRAM, which is the world's second-largest memory semiconductor.
Although SK Hynix's foundry business is being carried out through its subsidiary, SK Hynix System IC, its proportion is small. Its sales last year amounted to 703 billion won, or only about 2% of the total sales. System IC has a production capacity of 85,000 sheets per month based on 8-inch (200mm) wafers.
