August 12, according to Reuters today, two people familiar with the matter said that in order to help the United States compete with China, South Korean memory manufacturer SK Hynix (SK Hynix) plans to select a site in the United States to build an advanced chip packaging factory, and break ground around the first quarter of 2023.
One of the sources, who asked not to be named, said the plant is expected to cost “billions of dollars,” employ about 1,000 people and be in mass production by 2025-2026. And the source said the factory location could be near a university with engineering-related talent.
Last month, Hynix announced that it would invest $22 billion (about RMB 148.28 billion) in the U.S. in semiconductors, green energy and bioscience, with $15 billion (about RMB 101.1 billion) to be invested in semiconductors. Specifically, the $15 billion will be used for research and development projects, materials development, and the construction of advanced packaging and testing facilities.
SK Hynix will establish a nationwide network of R&D collaborations and related facilities for packaging SK Hynix’s own memory chips and logic chips designed by other U.S. companies for machine learning and artificial intelligence applications, the sources said.
In addition, the U.S. passed the Chip and Science Act this week, which will provide $52 billion in subsidies for chip manufacturing and research and about $24 billion in tax breaks for chip makers. Chip packaging plants will be eligible for funding, the sources said.
