SK Hynix Vice Chairman Park Jung-ho announced on May 13 that he is considering doubling SK Hynix's current foundry production capacity.
"SK Hynix is considering doubling its current foundry production capacity," said Vice Chairman Park. "company will consider various strategic measures such as expansion of facilities in South Korea and investment in M&A."
SK Hynix is planning to invest in 8-inch foundry business to help South Korean fabless semiconductor companies enter global markets.
SK Hynix said it can expand supply of semiconductor products such as mobile, home appliances, and vehicles to global businesses. It seems that the company is determined to contribute to stabilizing supply as there is a serious shortage of non-memory semiconductors around the world.
It is also interpreted as Vice Chairman Park's willingness to boost non-memory ecosystem by supporting South Korean fabless companies.
Industry sources say that Vice Chairman Park, who recently took office as CEO of SK Hynix, led SK Telecom's acquisition of SK Hynix in 2012, will announce detailed investment plans such as M&A soon.
Vice Chairman Park was involved in company's major investments such as investing in Japan's KIOXIA (Toshiba Memory) in 2017 and signing a contract to acquire Intel NAND business last year.
This is not the first time Vice Chairman Park has mentioned expanding investment in 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."
Since then, Vice President Roh Jong-won (CFO) has specified Park's plan by announcing that the company will invest in 8-inch foundry last month.
