SK hynix is making one of the largest manufacturing investments in the semiconductor industry’s history, with a proposed 11.9 trillion won (roughly $8 billion) purchase of advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems from Dutch chip equipment maker ASML.
The purchase, disclosed in regulatory filings tied to SK hynix’s planned Nasdaq listing, comes as it ramps production of next-generation memory chips for artificial intelligence. The equipment is scheduled for delivery through the end of 2027.
The equipment will support production of cutting-edge DRAM and high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which has exploded in use in AI accelerators used by companies such as Nvidia.
HBM chips sit right on the graphics card next to the GPU to minimize latency. That’s different from DRAM, which is installed on memory sticks that plug into the motherboard. Both standard DRAM and HBM use the exact same manufacturing processes, which has led to the shortage of memory has both are being heavily consumed in the AI buildout.
ASML occupies a unique position in that supply chain. The Dutch company is the world’s only manufacturer of EUV lithography systems, which use light to print the extremely small features needed for the most advanced semiconductor nodes.
It has no competition. Without ASML manufacturing equipment, Intel and TSMC fabs would sit empty.
Each machine is the size of a shipping container and can cost hundreds of millions of dollars and requires years of manufacturing and installation, making access to EUV capacity a strategic advantage for leading chipmakers.
On Monday, SK Hynix submitted another filing to the SEC noting that it is planning to offer 177.9M American Depositary Shares in its Nasdaq IPO. Each ADS represents one-tenth of a share of common stock, par value 5,000 ROK won/$3.31 US dollars per share, or common share.
The company expects its shares to begin trading on July 10 and anticipates net proceeds of about US$28B from the offering.
