SK Hynix plans to spend $8 billion to purchase EUV lithography machines from ASML.

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SK Hynix has announced an investment of over $8 billion to purchase EUV lithography machines from Dutch lithography equipment giant ASML. This is one of the largest equipment investments by the Korean memory chip maker as it strives for dominance in the AI memory market.

According to the company announcement, on March 24 SK Hynix confirmed the purchase of ASML EUV scanners, with a total purchase amount of approximately 11.95 trillion Korean won (about $7.97 billion USD), equivalent to 9.97% of its total assets at the end of 2024. The transaction cycle is about two years, covering equipment procurement, installation, and upgrades, with completion expected by December 2027.

SK Hynix stated that this move aims to address the growing demand for AI memory, represented by HBM (High Bandwidth Memory), while meeting expansion needs for general DRAM. The signing of this huge order once again highlights ASML's core position in advanced process equipment.

This purchase is also closely tied to SK Hynix's strategic goal of accelerating the sixth-generation (1c) DRAM process. Under competitive pressure from Samsung, which has already deployed the 1c process, catching up and surpassing at the process node level has become a top priority for SK Hynix.

Process Race: 1c Process Anchored to HBM4E and Next-Generation Products

According to Yonhap News, this EUV equipment purchase is very likely to directly serve SK Hynix's plan to accelerate the 1c process, which is expected to be applied to HBM, DDR5, and LPDDR6, among other key next-generation products.

According to the Chosun Ilbo, SK Hynix currently uses the 1b process to manufacture the core dies of HBM4 and plans to switch to the 1c DRAM process for HBM4E products, while logic dies will continue to rely on TSMC's 3nm process.

In contrast, Samsung has already taken the lead in adopting the 1c DRAM process for its HBM4 products, maintaining an advantage in process advancement and putting direct competitive pressure on SK Hynix.

Expansion Acceleration: Second Cleanroom at M15X Activated Two Months Early

Beyond equipment purchases, SK Hynix is also accelerating its capacity expansion pace.

According to the Dong-A Ilbo, the company recently opened the second cleanroom at its Cheongju M15X wafer fab ahead of schedule, and has started equipment installation about two months ahead of the originally planned May timeline. Both cleanrooms are now in full operational preparations.

According to the plan, SK Hynix will rely on M15X to meet next-generation HBM demand until the first wafer fab at Yongin Semiconductor Campus is completed and goes into production in 2027.

EUV Investment Continuously Increased: Fleet Size to Double

SK Hynix has already laid the groundwork in the EUV field. According to ET News, the company was the first globally to deploy High-NA EUV equipment for memory mass production at its Icheon M16 factory, introducing the technology to memory chip mass production. The report also indicates that SK Hynix plans to bring in about 20 more EUV machines by 2027, doubling its current EUV fleet size.

The purchase price for each EUV machine ranges from 300 billion to 500 billion Korean won. Based on this calculation, SK Hynix's total EUV investment is expected to exceed 6 trillion Korean won. The scale of such equipment investment reflects the memory giant's strategic resolve to stake heavily in next-generation memory manufacturing competition.

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