The fever for artificial intelligence is causing such a severe memory shortage that major buyers of SK hynix have begun offering to finance the construction of new production lines. In exchange for covering factory and equipment costs, these clients seek exclusive access to the resulting capacity. The company carefully evaluates these offers, fearing that special agreements could create tensions due to differences in volumes, priorities, and prices among its customers.
The engineering behind custom manufacturing 🏭
The proposal involves clients paying upfront for the construction of clean rooms and the installation of advanced lithography equipment, such as EUV systems. In return, SK hynix would dedicate part of its HBM and DDR5 memory production capacity to these buyers. However, the semiconductor manufacturing process is complex: switching from one client to another requires recalibrating parameters and can reduce overall yield. The company must balance these customized agreements with its need to maintain flexible production for the open market.
The memory lottery: pay for your factory and pray for your chips 🎲
So now, in addition to worrying about the price of memory, you can finance the factory where it will be made. It's like buying a car and having to pay for the assembly line too. The problem is that if something goes wrong in production, you can't complain to SK hynix because, technically, the factory is yours. Sure, at least you'll have exclusivity over a product that might not work. A sound investment.