SK Hynix has fully kicked off construction of its new memory manufacturing base in Yongin. Reports indicate the firm has recently placed orders for state-of-the-art DRAM-manufacturing equipment from key partners. The initial target capacity stands at 20,000 wafers per month.
According to semiconductor-equipment industry sources dated July 14, SK Hynix is pushing forward with equipment procurement for its Yongin Y1 fab.
Y1 is the first fab within the large-scale semiconductor complex developed by SK Hynix in Won-sam-myeon, Cheoin-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi-do. The first fab consists of two building frames and six cleanrooms. Construction of the first cleanroom (Phase 1, ph1) is now in full swing. Originally scheduled to open in May next year, Y1 ph1 will instead come online as early as February next year.
SK Hynix has started ordering required gear for Y1 ph1 from critical suppliers. Pilot-production line construction is set to begin in February next year, followed by full-scale equipment installation in March or April to ramp output to 20,000 wafers per month.
The fab will produce sixth-generation 10-nm-class (1c) DRAM, the latest commercially-available DRAM node. 1c DRAM is deployed in high-value DDR and LPDDR (Low-Power DDR) products targeting AI workloads. SK Hynix intends to adopt 1c DRAM for its seventh-generation high-bandwidth memory HBM4E, which is expected to hit full commercial availability as early as next year.
Suppliers are ramping up their responses. SK Hynix has accelerated negotiations on pricing contracts ahead of equipment delivery.
“Typically these pricing agreements are signed at year-end, but SK Hynix is pushing to close deals starting in early Q3,” an industry insider from the semiconductor-equipment sector commented. He noted this move aims “to get equipment into Y1 ph1 as quickly as possible.”
Meanwhile, responding to current semiconductor supply-and-demand dynamics, SK Hynix is rolling out strategies to speed up its massive Yongin semiconductor cluster. The whole complex requires total investment of 600 trillion KRW (2.724 trillion CNY) and will house four fabs. The first fab alone represents an investment of roughly 31 trillion KRW (140.7 billion CNY). Completion of the fourth fab has been brought forward by 12 years, from the original target of 2045 to 2033.
“From what we know, SK Hynix will start cleanroom construction for Phase 2 and Phase 3 of Yongin’s first fab in the second half of this year,” another equipment-sector source said. “Overall, the fab construction timeline is extremely tight.”