SK Hynix to Restart NAND Flash Memory Plant Investment in Dalian, China, Capacity Expected to Increase by 50%

August 11, according to the South Korean media Money Today, SK Hynix's NAND subsidiary Solidigm plans to restart the construction of the Phase II factory at its NAND flash memory production base in Dalian, China. It is expected to begin equipment move-in this November and officially start production in the first half of next year.

The Dalian Phase II project was previously stalled for a long time due to the sluggish NAND market, inventory adjustments, and U.S. restrictions on semiconductor equipment to China. With the expansion of AI data centers driving the growth in enterprise solid-state drive (eSSD) demand, SK Hynix has decided to resume investment to expand NAND capacity.

The current monthly production capacity of the Dalian Phase I factory is about 100,000 wafers. After the completion of the Phase II project, it is expected to add approximately 50,000 wafers to the monthly production capacity, increasing the overall capacity by about 50%. SK Hynix plans to adopt a "dual-track production" strategy, producing mature process NAND at the Dalian facility, while focusing high-end NAND products on production at the M17 plant in Cheongju, South Korea.