According to a report by South Korean media TheElec, SK Hynix, a major South Korean memory chip manufacturer, has installed the first batch of equipment at its new M15X wafer fab—two months earlier than originally planned.
The report states that the M15X fab was initially scheduled to start equipment installation in December. The earlier-than-planned execution is likely aimed at accelerating the capacity expansion of High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM).
Previous data shows that SK Hynix has invested over 20 trillion won in building the M15X fab. Located near the existing M15 fab, the new facility focuses on producing 1b DRAM, which serves as the core chip for HBM3E. Sources revealed that the initial monthly capacity of M15X will be 35,000 wafers, and is expected to expand to 55,000 to 60,000 wafers per month in the future.
SK Hynix began placing orders for equipment for the M15X fab at the end of last year. Some DRAM employees from its Icheon plant in South Korea have been transferred to the new Chungju fab to assist with equipment installation and mass production preparation.
The M15X fab features a larger cleanroom than existing facilities, as HBM manufacturing processes require more space and equipment capacity than traditional DRAM. Sources indicated that in addition to M15X, SK Hynix is also simultaneously preparing for a new fab in Yongin and an advanced packaging plant in Indiana, USA.
Notably, SK Hynix announced last month that it has completed the development of HBM4 and is ready for mass production.
(Reprinted from https://news.eccn.com/）