SK Hynix to produce 8-inch wafers in bulk and will purchase ASML EUV lithography machines

South Korean chip manufacturer SK Hynix announced its first-quarter 2021 financial report on April 28. Data show that the company’s revenue this quarter was approximately RMB 49.462 billion, an increase of 18% year-on-year; net profit was approximately RMB 5.783 billion, an increase of 53% year-on-year.

According to the latest news, SK Hynix announced that it will focus on the foundry production of 8-inch wafers and will further expand its production capacity in the future. As the current global chip shortage has continued and the chip delivery time has been significantly longer, Hynix has advanced its investment plan originally scheduled for 2022 to the second half of 2021 to ensure chip supply.

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The company said on the conference call that it is reviewing the production plan of the existing 8-inch wafer foundry, but has no plans to expand the production of 12-inch wafers. SK Hynix also said that it plans to transfer the production of its wholly-owned subsidiary SK Hynix System IC to China to reduce costs. The plant focuses on the processing of 8-inch wafers.

In addition, SK Hynix plans to use the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) process to produce the fourth generation of 1a nanometer DRAM memory chips this year, and will subsequently expand the EUV process to 1b and 1c nanometer DRAM manufacturing.

The company has recently announced a cooperation with the lithography machine manufacturer ASML in order to stably supply EUV lithography machines in the next few years. SK Hynix has also established a dedicated EUV team to apply this process to production relief as soon as possible. The company predicts that global demand for DRAM and NAND memory chips will increase by about 20% and 30% respectively in 2021.

(Via)