As part of a USD 22 billion investment in the USA, the SK Group also wants to make SK Hynix fit for the future. Several billion are to flow into a plant for advanced packaging in the United States, and construction is to start as early as the beginning of 2023.
Nothing is currently known about the exact amount, but there is talk of around 1,000 jobs – a new benchmark even for the most modern semiconductor factories for chip production. Following the start of construction in the first quarter of 2023, production is to begin from 2025 to 2026, or finished chips are to be placed in their appropriate package. Those involved are still silent on where exactly the factory will be located. SK Hynix confirmed early plans to Reuters, but tended to push the schedule back a little.
Packaging is becoming more and more important
The so-called advanced packaging is one of the big options of the near future. TSMC and Intel are clearly in the limelight, and they are now not only stacking many individual chips next to each other, but also on top of each other. Not only can Moore's Law be pushed further and performance increased, but above all it also solves problems that would be the order of the day with large, monolithic chips, for example. In the future, therefore, almost every supplier of semiconductor products will also seek their salvation in advanced packaging in order not to fall behind competitors in the market who use this process for themselves.
Ultimately, the same also applies to the suppliers of such packaging processes in the market. TSMC and Intel alone are already investing many billions of US dollars in these capacities, and SK Hynix also wants a piece of the pie there. The fact that this plant is now coming to the USA of all places and not to the supposedly cheaper Asia is due to the recently passed US Chips Act. Both the packaging factory and a possible research and development facility would qualify for subsidies and tax breaks.