Tech giants extend unprecedented olive branch: SK Hynix faces relentless pursuit to secure chip supply

According to six sources familiar with the matter, clients have presented a series of proposals to the South Korean chip manufacturer, including direct investment in dedicated memory chip production lines. Three other sources revealed that another suggestion involves clients funding equipment purchases, such as ASML's EUV lithography machines worth hundreds of millions of dollars. However, two sources pointed out that the well-funded SK Hynix currently maintains a cautious stance. The company is concerned that such financial commitments could lead to being “held hostage” by specific buyers, forcing it to offer lower prices in exchange for long-term stable income guarantees. One source bluntly stated: “Regardless of what terms are put forward, current production capacity is basically zero. At present, there isn't even a small portion of capacity available to allocate to specific clients.” Another person disclosed that one of the proposals focuses on the first phase of a large-scale wafer factory SK Hynix is building in Yongin Complex, South Korea, which may have DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) as its core.