SK hynix (000660) is in talks with Intel over a plan to produce memory chips in the United States for the first time, according to reports.
Reuters reported on the 16th, citing multiple sources, that SK hynix is weighing the lease of part of a chip production facility Intel has been building in Ohio as one of its leading options for manufacturing memory chips.
SK hynix and Intel are also discussing setting up a joint venture with memory customers including major cloud companies, the report said.
Reuters said that if the partnership materializes, it could mark a significant win for the administration of President Donald Trump, which has pressed chipmakers to expand production in the United States.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on the 2nd that Washington was considering tariffs on semiconductor products, outlining a policy under which chips made in the United States would face no duties while those produced abroad and shipped into the U.S. market would carry the cost.
Producing chips in the United States, however, would expose SK hynix to higher labor and construction costs, along with the burden of building a local supply chain for an industry centered on Asia. Higher manufacturing costs in the United States are another variable.
Even so, Reuters said the need for expanded U.S. production is growing, noting that SK hynix entered the Nasdaq market in July through an American depositary receipt listing and is currently building an advanced packaging plant for next-generation high-bandwidth memory in Indiana.
SK hynix is investing about $4 billion (5.46 trillion won) to build the next-generation HBM packaging facility in West Lafayette, Indiana. Mass production is targeted for the second half of 2029.
The Indiana plant is a back-end facility, not a site that manufactures memory chips at the wafer stage. It packages DRAM produced in South Korea and elsewhere into high-performance HBM products after the chips are shipped to the United States.
If SK hynix moves into memory production in the United States, it would build a local ecosystem capable of handling both front-end and back-end processes. It remains unclear whether the memory to be produced there would be DRAM or NAND flash.
Some observers say SK hynix's investment in U.S. memory production could come under review by the South Korean government. Because advanced memory manufacturing technology may be tied to designated national core technologies, they argue, authorities should examine the potential for technology leakage and the effect on domestic industrial competitiveness as production expands in the United States.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy called the plan "a matter for the company to decide," while saying it could be subject to review under the Industrial Technology Protection Act if national core technologies are involved.
SK hynix also distanced itself from the report, saying nothing has been decided. In a newsroom notice, the company said reports that it is negotiating with Intel to produce memory chips in the United States for the first time are not confirmed. It added that while SK hynix is reviewing various options to strengthen its global competitiveness, nothing has been finalized at this point, including the two scenarios mentioned in the report.
Intel called the report speculation and declined to comment in detail, while saying it continues to pursue its investment plans in Ohio.
