The logo of SK hynix is displayed on a glass wall during the 2026 World IT Show in Seoul, April 22. AFP-Yonhap
SEOUL/SINGAPORE — SK hynix is being aggressively courted by big global tech firms with offers to invest in its new production lines and fund purchases of pricey manufacturing tools as they rush to secure memory chips, people familiar with the matter said.
The offers, unprecedented in the global memory chip industry, underscore the severity of the component's scarcity around the world, as chipmakers struggle to keep pace with surging demand amid an artificial intelligence boom. Memory chips are critical parts in AI data centers, smartphones, PCs and other areas.
The firm's customers have been proposing a range of offers to the Korean chipmaker, including investing in dedicated memory production lines, six people said.
Another proposal involved customers financing equipment purchases such as ASML's extreme ultraviolet lithography machines, which are used to print circuits onto silicon wafers and are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, three of the people said.
But the chipmaker, flush with cash, is cautious about taking financial commitments from customers, as such deals could hold it hostage to specific buyers and require it to supply chips at lower prices in exchange for securing longer-term and more stable revenue guarantees, two people said.
"Regardless of the type of offer, available capacity is essentially zero right now," one of the sources said. "There isn't even a small portion that can be designated for a specific customer."
Another person said one proposal was pitched at the first phase of a large fabrication plant that SK hynix is building in its Yongin complex in Korea, where dynamic random-access memory is likely to be the dominant focus.
The details of these offers are being reported for the first time. SK hynix and its main rivals, Samsung Electronics and Micron, have said they were in talks with customers for multi-year supply contracts, but they have not provided details.
The sources cited in this article declined to be identified as the discussions are confidential.
Source: Korea Times News
