Hynix switches fab site from NAND to DRAM

The fab, at Cheongju in Korea’s North Chungcheong Province, will cost $14.6 billion – $3.8 billion for the shell and $10.8 billion for the equipment.

The fab is planned to run 100k wpm and to be in production by the end of November 2025. The accelerated timescale is because excavation for the original NAND project has already been completed.

The decision to switch production is because of the shortage, high price and high expectations of HBM and DDR5.

Hynix expects 60% CAGR for HBM over the next five years while Goldman Sachs forecasts the HBM market will go from $3.3 billion in 2022 to $23 billion in 2026.