SK Hynix Expands U.S. Investment Again! Lutnick's 'Wish' Comes True? Reportedly Set to Acquire Intel's Ohio Wafer Fab

According to an exclusive report from South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo, South Korean semiconductor giant SK Hynix is currently engaged in confidential negotiations with U.S. chipmaker Intel, planning to acquire Intel's semiconductor campus in Ohio. The long-term goal is to initiate front-end memory chip production at the site within the next five years. The report indicates that SK Hynix is conducting internal evaluations and seeking approval from the Seoul government for this major acquisition, while the specific purchase price and asset transfer timeline are still under discussion.

This potential deal is seen as a win-win strategic move. For SK Hynix, acquiring a facility with existing infrastructure allows the fastest possible compliance with Washington's requirements for foreign companies to produce chips in the U.S. For Intel, which is struggling with cash flow issues and mounting losses in its foundry business, the sale would provide immediate liquidity to support other critical operations.

Intel officially broke ground on this semiconductor campus in Ohio in 2022, marking its first self-built manufacturing site in nearly 40 years. The campus spans 4.05 million square meters, large enough to accommodate up to eight semiconductor fabrication plants. Intel initially estimated that full development of the site could require a total investment of up to $100 billion (approximately NT$3.28 trillion).

The initial phase planned a $28 billion (approximately NT$918.4 billion) investment to prioritize the construction of two advanced fabs (Fab 27 and Fab 28), along with hiring 3,000 engineers. However, Intel's foundry business has been hampered by poor yield rates and delays in advanced process technology, making it difficult to secure orders from key clients such as Nvidia, Apple, and AMD. These massive costs and expenditures forced the company to implement significant layoffs in 2025 and delay the mass production timeline for the Ohio plant to between 2030 and 2031.

Financial reports show Intel's foundry division posted an operating loss of $2.2 billion (approximately NT$71.48 billion) in 2025, followed by another $2.4 billion (approximately NT$78 billion) loss in the first quarter of this year. To improve yields and back-end processes, Intel recently hired former SK Hynix CEO Lee Seok-hee as Executive Vice President of its foundry business. Selling the long-idled Ohio campus now provides Intel with the liquidity needed to restructure its foundry operations.

For SK Hynix, this transaction is a key decision in response to strong tariff pressure from the Trump administration. The administration has continued pressuring Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to expand their U.S. investments, aiming to bring the semiconductor supply chain back within U.S. borders to fulfill President Trump's vision of 'America First' and 'Made in America.'

Currently, Samsung Electronics has invested approximately $37 billion (approximately NT$1.2 trillion) in Taylor, Texas, to build advanced foundry and R&D facilities, with production expected by 2027. Prior to this acquisition plan, SK Hynix had already announced a $3.87 billion (approximately NT$125.7 billion) investment in Indiana to build an advanced packaging facility for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), with production expected as early as 2028.

However, even with these massive investments, demands from Washington have not ceased. On the 10th, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick publicly stated that he and the president want Korean firms not only to establish foundry or packaging facilities in the U.S., but also to build front-end memory manufacturing capabilities, including DRAM production.

Professor Kim Dae-jong from Sejong University's Business Department analyzed the situation, suggesting that the U.S. is attempting to create a self-sufficient semiconductor supply chain that keeps all processes—IC design, wafer foundry, memory, and advanced packaging—within its borders. SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won recently confirmed that they are actively searching in the U.S. for locations that allow the 'fastest possible factory construction and production' to alleviate the current abnormally high memory prices. In this context, the Ohio campus appears to be the ideal solution for a mutually beneficial outcome.