SK Hynix to Invest $13 Billion in Advanced Chip Packaging Plant as AI Memory Demand Surges

SK Hynix Inc, a key supplier to Nvidia and one of the world’s largest memory chipmakers, announced plans to invest 19 trillion won (approximately $13 billion) to build a cutting-edge chip packaging plant in South Korea, underscoring the company’s strong growth prospects amid booming artificial intelligence demand. The new facility will be located in Cheongju, a city where SK Hynix already operates several semiconductor production sites, and construction is scheduled to begin in April.

The investment highlights how AI-driven demand is reshaping the global semiconductor industry, particularly the market for memory chips. SK Hynix said the advanced chip packaging plant is aimed at significantly boosting production capacity to meet rising demand fueled by AI applications. Memory chips are a critical component of AI processors, and the company is a global leader in high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which is essential for training and running large-scale AI models.

Alongside rival Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix dominates the global memory chip market and produces some of the most advanced HBM chips currently available. This technological edge has positioned the company as a vital part of the AI supply chain, with Nvidia relying heavily on SK Hynix for memory used in its powerful AI-focused graphics processing units.

Investor optimism around AI-related semiconductor stocks has grown steadily, and SK Hynix is expected to benefit not only from strong demand but also from rising memory chip prices, as supply struggles to keep pace with AI adoption. The company is set to report its December quarter earnings next week, with market expectations pointing to a strong performance. This follows Samsung Electronics recently signaling a more than 200% surge in profit for the same period, driven largely by memory and AI-related businesses.

Despite the positive outlook, SK Hynix shares dipped 0.5% in morning trading, although they remain close to record highs. With aggressive investment plans and sustained AI momentum, SK Hynix is increasingly viewed as one of the most important AI semiconductor stocks to watch.