The South Korean tech giant, SK Hynix, is the world’s third-largest semiconductor manufacturer, falling behind only Intel and AMD. Not to mention, it is the world’s second-largest manufacturer of memory modules (RAM).
Yesterday, the company announced a $9 billion deal to buy Intel’s NAND memory chip operation. This deal comes amidst the companies ongoing struggle against the competitor Samsung which is also looking to establish itself in the semiconductor market.
SK Hynix, through a leader new the manufacturing of DRAM chips, has always been short in manufacturing flash memory or NAND chips. For the unknown, flash memory chips are used in devices such as smartphones and USB storage drives. Not to mention they have seen wide acceptance in the usage in industrial and medical equipment.
The combination of SK Hynix and Intel will boost the south Korean giants Flash memory business and will allow it to cross major competitors like Kioxia and Western Digital.
In South Korea and most of Asia, Samsung dominates the NAND and DRAM markets. With this deal, SK Hynix is looking to level the field with its Korean counterpart in the global chip market. SK Hynix is looking to become a major chip supplier to the American giants such as Apple, Dell, and HP.
Ahn Ki-Hyun, vice-president of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, stated that this Intel acquisition by SK Hynix would strengthen the company’s NAND operations, which have “not been as strong as its other businesses.”
He also stated that “With the deal, the company has firmly cemented its second-largest position in the global semiconductor industry. In the long run, the deal paves the way for it to become more competitive against Samsung.”
With this deal, Intel is looking to expand its technologies in mobile processors and get access to a wide range of customers.
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