SK Hynix bargains for chip equipment exports to its China facility in return for building a factory in US

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SKOREA SK HYNIXImage Credits:Getty Images nether a Bloomberg license.

9:45 AM PDT · October 15, 2026

SK Hynix appears to beryllium navigating choppy U.S.-China chipmaking waters. The company’s flash representation unit, Solidigm, is seeking U.S. support to nonstop American chipmaking instrumentality to its mill successful Dalian, China, arsenic a information to proceed gathering a semiconductor mill successful the U.S, Reuters reported, citing anonymous sources.

Solidigm has been reportedly chalking up plans to physique a NAND flash representation spot mill successful the U.S., and is considering upstate New York arsenic a imaginable determination for the facility.

NAND flash chips are chiefly utilized successful solid-state retention drives, which are employed successful everything from laptops and smartphones to AI information centers. But the planetary constituent shortage acknowledgment to skyrocketing request for AI information centers has driven up prices for everything that goes into information centers, including high-speed RAM chips arsenic good arsenic SSDs. Research steadfast Trendforce expects NAND prices to emergence 15% to 20% successful the 4th quarter.

Reuters cited its sources arsenic saying that Solidigm wants to instal much chipmaking instrumentality successful spare abstraction astatine SK Hynix’s Dalian mill successful China to boost NAND spot production, according to Reuters.

SK Hynix told TechCrunch it is not seeking to grow capableness astatine its Dalian Mod B facility, which was completed successful 2023. The spot elephantine added that the instrumentality installation is being carried retired successful consultation with and nether authorization from the U.S. government.

Washington first imposed sweeping restrictions connected precocious chips and chipmaking instrumentality exports to China successful October 2022, citing nationalist information concerns, and further tightened the rules successful 2023. Then successful September 2025, the Trump medication revoked peculiar export exemptions for definite SK Hynix, Samsung and Intel facilities successful China. The U.S. has since granted an yearly licence to Samsung and SK Hynix for sending chipmaking instrumentality to their plants successful China.

The U.S. has besides been pushing overseas chipmakers to physique and grow their manufacturing facilities successful America. In July, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said helium wanted Samsung and SK Hynix to physique spot plants successful the country, and that helium was successful talks with some companies.

Solidigm is said to beryllium preparing for a 2027 U.S. IPO that could rise astir $10 cardinal and worth it astatine up to $100 billion.

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Kate Park is simply a newsman astatine TechCrunch, with a absorption connected technology, startups and task superior successful Asia. She antecedently was a fiscal writer astatine Mergermarket covering M&A, backstage equity and task capital.

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