[CES 2024] SK hynix to consider increasing DRAM production in Q1

Industry

Published: 09 Jan. 2024, 07:58 Updated: 09 Jan. 2024, 15:01

[CES 2024] SK hynix to consider increasing DRAM production in Q1

SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung talks to the press at a hotel in Las Vegas on Monday, local time, as a sideline event of the CES 2024. [SK HYNIX]

LAS VEGAS - SK hynix will consider increasing its production of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips in the first quarter of this year as demand is climbing back.

"We will actively consider whether to make changes to production cuts of DRAM in the first quarter of this year," SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung said during a press conference on Monday in Las Vegas held on the sidelines of technology conference CES 2024.

SK hynix cut production of DRAM and NAND in early 2023 as the memory chip market saw a severe supply glut, leading the company to accumulate 8 trillion won ($6.1 billion) of losses in the first three quarters of last year.

"The same thing for NAND will be put to consideration going into the latter half of the year. NAND is relatively slow in market recovery although the worst has passed," Kwak said.

SK hynix showed confidence in continuing its lead in AI memory chip market represented by HBM and CXL among others. To cater to different requirements from clients, SK hynix said it will introduce Custom Memory Platform to better customize their memory chips for AI processors.

Memory chips have long been considered a general commodity that can be applied to an array of products but with the introduction of AI processor, which require complex computing and data processing, memory chips also need to be adjusted depending on their applications.

SK hynix will deliver HBM3E chips to Nvidia in the first half of the year as planned, the company said. Its next-generation HBM4, which is currently in development, will start mass production in 2027.

It also said HBM3E chips are not designed by Nvidia, as speculated, but are designed by the company.

The chipmaker said it is extremely cautious about building a manufacturing plant in the U.S.

In 2022, SK hynix announced a $15 billion investment to build advanced packaging facilities in the U.S. but no updates to it have been made yet.

"We have to consider infrastructure, collaboration with the state government as well as the ecosystem and accessibility," Choi Woo-jin, Head of Package & Test at SK hynix, said

"We will make an announcement on the matter as soon as possible," Choi said.

SK hynix, riding high on the AI boom, is near 100 trillion won in market capitalization, climbing up to the No. 2 company in Korea by market cap.

Now, it aims for 200 trillion won.

"Within the next three years, we internally target SK hynix's market capitalization to be 200 trillion won," Kwak said. "Thorough preparation for technology, products and maximization of investment efficiency will enhance the company's financial solvency."

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]