By Hyunjoo Jin, Heekyong Yang and Karen Freifeld
SEOUL/NEW YORK, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Chipmaker SK Hynix’s subsidiary Solidigm is considering building a NAND flash memory chip factory in the US, with upstate New York emerging as a leading candidate, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The South Korean chipmaker faces growing pressure from the Trump administration to expand US manufacturing, with Washington pushing to reshore semiconductor production as huge investments in AI data centres dry up global supplies of memory chips.
The proposed project would be separate from SK Hynix’s discussions with Intel to make memory chips at the US chipmaker’s Ohio facility, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the matter is confidential.
SK Hynix said its “subsidiary Solidigm is reviewing various options to strengthen its business competitiveness, but no specific plans have been confirmed at this time.”
US-based Solidigm did not respond to a Reuters request for comment outside business hours.
A US plant would reduce Solidigm’s reliance on its sole NAND production facility in the Chinese city of Dalian, while helping to shield it from potential U.S. tariffs and curbs on exports of chipmaking equipment to China.
The expansion plan comes as Chinese rivals rapidly boost capacity to narrow the technology gap with foreign competitors.
Chinese chipmaker CXMT plans to set up an R&D production line for NAND flash memory at a new plant in Beijing, as it seeks to enter the booming market dominated by Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron, Reuters reported on Friday.
However, no agreement has been reached regarding Solidigm’s US investment and key project details remain under discussion, one of the sources cautioned.
SK Hynix may move cautiously as making chips in the US is more expensive than in South Korea, while Washington and Seoul continue talks over trade and investment matters.
Shares of SK Hynix ended up 6.4% versus a gain of 2.7% in the benchmark KOSPI index.
‘A MATTER OF CONTROVERSY’
Asked about US pressure on Korean chipmakers to build factories in America, President Lee Jae Myung said Seoul would seek to “protect South Korea’s national interests while respecting the views of companies.”
“It remains a matter of controversy,” he said on Friday, without elaborating.
One of the sources said SK Hynix may face less political resistance to producing NAND chips through its U.S. subsidiary because the technology is viewed as less strategically sensitive than advanced DRAM products, such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips.
The government has urged SK Hynix and rival Samsung to speed plans for a new semiconductor-making cluster in South Korea’s southwest, drawing potential investments in the hundreds of billions of dollars.
Potential opposition from Seoul could complicate SK Hynix’s ambitions to make advanced memory chips such as HBM or even conventional DRAM chips, at Intel’s facilities, Reuters reported this week.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has threatened tariffs of up to 100% on South Korean and Taiwanese companies unless they commit to expanding production in the US.
South Korean chipmakers are being pulled in opposing directions by Washington and Seoul, which are also negotiating adoption of a $350-billion investment commitment South Korea made to the US last year in exchange for lower US tariffs.
(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin, Heekyong Yang in Seoul and Karen Freifield in New York; Additional reporting by Alexandra Alper in Washington and Joyce Lee in Seoul; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Miyoung Kim and Clarence Fernandez)
