[Courtesy of SK hynix]
SK hynix promised to boost production by stepping up the construction of new chip plants in South Korea and China, citing uncertainty over the acquisition of Toshiba Corp.'s chip business.
Based on a rosy business outlook and strong demand, the company said in a conference call that it was considering increasing the production of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and NAND chips by the end of this year.
SK hynix suggested it would try to complete the construction of a new DRAM plant in Wuxi in southern China and a new NAND plant in South Korea's central city of Cheongju by the fourth quarter of 2018, earlier than its original schedule.
The company predicted robust long-term demand for server DRAM products and strong sales of NAND chips for smartphones in the second half of this year thanks to the release of new models.
Helped by rising prices, SK hynix saw its second-quarter net profit soaring to a record high of 2.46 trillion won (2.19 billion US dollars) from 286 billion won a year earlier. Operating profit and sales jumped to an all-time high of 3.05 trillion won and 6.69 trillion won respectively.
A consortium involving the unit of South Korea's SK Group has been tapped as the preferred bidder for Toshiba's memory arm, but there are still legal and other hurdles. A successful deal means SK hynix will become a major player in the NAND market.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
