SK Hynix plans to open $13B HBM packaging plant in 2027 • The Register

Reminiscence makers simply cannot churn out their DRAM quick sufficient. On the heels of an AI-driven scarcity, SK Hynix on Tuesday introduced a brand new 19 trillion Korean gained (about $13 billion) superior packaging and take a look at facility in South Korea that might supply some aid – simply not for client merchandise like laptops and telephones.

The South Korean reminiscence large unveiled the brand new web site, dubbed P&T7, which will probably be positioned on the Cheongju Technopolis Industrial Park in Chungbuk, South Korea. Work on the plant is anticipated to start in April with completion focused for the tip of 2027.

The positioning goals to handle surging demand for high-bandwidth reminiscence (HBM) modules used extensively in datacenter GPUs and AI accelerators. Between 2025 and 2030, SK expects HBM demand to develop by a mean of 33 p.c a yr, fueled in no small half by excessive demand for AI infrastructure.

HBM is manufactured by stacking a number of layers of DRAM – eight and 12 layers are commonest – to attain larger capability and bandwidth whereas lowering power consumption within the course of.

The method is extremely costly, as a single defect in any of the layers might render the ultimate module nugatory. Worse, due to HBM’s prodigious information charges – as excessive as 2.75 TB/s per module within the newest generations – the chips normally must be completely co-packaged alongside the compute logic. This makes the margin extremely tight. Faulty modules might scrap a $50,000 GPU.

Due to this, specialised packaging and take a look at amenities, like SK’s newly introduced P&T7 web site, are important to producing HBM in quantity.

Growth of the P&T7 facility comes as SK Hynix prepares to convey its M15X DRAM plant on-line. Introduced in 2024, the 20 trillion gained (about $13.5 billion) DRAM plant was constructed to handle rising HBM demand. It opened its clear room in October and, based on SK, work to deploy fab tools is progressing easily.

Whereas the brand new packaging web site could also be welcome information for the likes of AMD or Nvidia – two of the biggest shoppers of HBM reminiscence – the packaging web site will seemingly do little to handle skyrocketing reminiscence costs seen by shoppers and companies over the previous few months. Whereas HBM has appeared in client merchandise prior to now, its excessive value and complexity normally preclude its use in fashionable shopper units.

DDR5 reminiscence kits that, a yr in the past, offered for lower than $100 are actually going for effectively in extra of $300 as distributors grapple with the continued DRAM and NAND crunch. 

As we beforehand reported, DRAM costs are anticipated to stay excessive for the subsequent a number of years, pushed partly by robust demand for AI infrastructure. Analysts predict DRAM costs to peak later this yr earlier than plateauing in 2027, and rising once more in 2028.

Whereas prospects pay by way of the nostril, reminiscence distributors are raking in billions of {dollars} of income. Final week, Samsung issued a revised This autumn forecast through which it predicted its working income would greater than triple, whereas Micron and SK Hynix’s income are expected to greater than double. ®