SK Hynix and Intel explore memory wafer production at Intel's Ohio campus

Intel shares rose 5.5% at the open on 16 September, and SK Hynix closed 4.1% higher in Seoul [9].

A lease or venture would give Intel a paying occupant for a campus that has produced nothing since its 2022 groundbreaking [1][3]. It would also give SK Hynix its first US memory fabrication capacity without building a fab from scratch [3][8]. For Micron, it would narrow a domestic-supply advantage [2][14]. Micron is the only large US-headquartered memory maker, and CHIPS Act subsidies were built around that advantage [2][14].

Key details are missing [3][8]. Reuters, citing three unidentified people, described two options [8][9][13]. SK Hynix could lease part of Intel's Ohio complex, or form a joint venture with Intel and major cloud companies that want locked-in memory supply [8][9]. One source called the talks exploratory and said no decisions had been made [8][9]. Reuters could not learn which chips SK Hynix might make there [8]. SK Hynix said it is "reviewing various measures, including establishing additional production bases" to strengthen its memory business, but that "no matters have been determined at this stage" [5][8]. It later said nothing had been finalised regarding cooperation with any specific company or memory production in the United States [5][10].

Intel declined to comment on what it called speculation [8][13]. It said it continues investing to prepare the Ohio site [8][13].

The Ohio site has been waiting for a customer

Intel broke ground at New Albany, Ohio, in 2022, its first new manufacturing site in 40 years [1]. The complex covers about 4.05 million square metres, roughly 1,000 acres, enough for eight plants [1]. Intel has estimated a full buildout at about $100 billion, with the first phase priced at about $28 billion [1]. Fab 27 and Fab 28 were due by 2025, and Intel planned to hire 3,000 engineers [1]. That schedule did not hold [3]. In February 2025 Intel said the first factory would not be finished until 2030, with operations starting between 2030 and 2031 [3].

Naga Chandrasekaran, Intel's operations chief, said at the time [3]. The company has said it does not want to finish factories it cannot fill [3]. A tenant changes the arithmetic [3]. Lease or venture revenue would land against a site that today is all cost, and a committed occupant would give Intel a reason to speed construction back up [3].

"it's important that we align the start of production of our fabs with the needs of our business and broader market demand" [3]

Why Intel is listening

Intel's foundry unit booked $5.8 billion of revenue in the second quarter, up 31% year on year [3]. Only $293 million came from customers other than Intel [3]. Operating losses narrowed from $3.2 billion in the second quarter of 2025 to $2.4 billion in the first quarter of 2026, then to $2.1 billion in the second [3]. That still leaves a business losing roughly $2 billion every three months [3]. Intel needs the money [4]. It launched a $15 billion public offering of common stock in August 2026 and is part-owned by the US government [4]. It has hired former SK Hynix chief executive Lee Seok-hee as an executive vice president overseeing the foundry business, focused on back-end work such as yield improvement [1][7].

The two are not strangers [3]. Intel sold its NAND memory business to SK Hynix for $9 billion in 2020 [3].

Seoul's review and the cost gap

The decision is not entirely SK Hynix's [7][8]. South Korea's trade ministry said a deal involving a "national core technology" would be reviewed under the Industrial Technology Protection Act [7][8]. The three sources told Reuters that advanced memory, including HBM or DRAM, could draw opposition from Seoul because those technologies are treated as sensitive [8]. Cost is the other open question [8]. Manufacturing chips in the US costs much more than in South Korea, according to two of the sources [8]. Labour and construction are dearer, and much of the industry's supply chain sits in Asia [8].

Washington's pressure is the counterweight [4]. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has threatened tariffs of up to 100% on South Korean and Taiwanese chipmakers unless they add capacity on American soil [4]. Chey Tae-won, chairman of the SK Group conglomerate, said in July [8].

"I think we need to build a factory in the United States. If possible, I believe we should build it" [8]

What happens next

No timeline has been given [3][8]. The capital, product mix and schedule all remain open [3][8].

SK Hynix's only confirmed US production plan is a packaging plant in West Lafayette, Indiana, at a cost of about $3.87 billion [1][10]. It will package high-bandwidth memory rather than make wafers [10]. The site is about 133 acres [10]. Groundbreaking was held on 27 August 2026 [10]. Mass production is targeted for the second half of 2028, with packaged HBM supply to US customers from the second half of 2029 [10].

Korea JoongAng Daily reported in July that SK Hynix was negotiating to buy the Ohio campus outright and start front-end memory production within five years [1]. SK Hynix denied it that month [7]. It said it had "no plans for an acquisition" [7].