SK Hynix Plans Big 40 Trillion Won for 2026
SK Hynix is planning to spend around 40 trillion won in 2026 which is quite a jump from the 28 trillion won they spent last year. They re splitting the money between buying new gear and expanding their facilities. About 20 trillion won is just to equip their factories with the latest tools. This spending supports their big move to new memory tech.
In 2026 SK Hynix wants over half of its DRAM production to use 1c nanometer processes. They re upgrading their main factories in Icheon (M14 and M16) and the new M15X plant in Cheongju to make it happen. Their aim is to hit a 1c DRAM production of 190000 wafers each month by year s end.
For NAND flash memory they re focusing production at the M15 plant in Cheongju. That means moving older production lines from Icheon and shifting towards 9th generation (321 layer) NAND. Their goal is to get these 321 layer products to make up over half of their NAND output by the end of the year.
SK Hynix wants to stay ahead in the AI memory game so they re putting a lot of money into back end processing equipment for HBM4. They re planning to order about 60 TC bonders this year to help roll out the next generation of high bandwidth memory. This comes after they bought extra equipment earlier in 2026 for their current HBM3E lines.
Getting their hands on Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment is proving tricky because ASML doesn t have a lot to go around. SK Hynix wants to add about 10 new EUV machines in 2026. To skip the long wait times and get them right away they re supposedly paying 15 20% more than the usual 300 billion won price tag. That could be an extra 60 billion won per machine which shows how urgent this move to advanced processes is for them.
A big chunk of their infrastructure budget is going to the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster. SK Hynix has promised to invest a total of 31 trillion won just for the first phase of the fab with construction hitting important milestones in 2026. Other projects include
- M15X Cheongju Finishing new cleanroom facilities to support the move to new DRAM and NAND tech
- Yongin Cluster Phases 2 6 Continuing to develop to secure long term manufacturing ability
- NAND Migration Restarting the move of NAND lines from M14 to M15 aiming to finish by 2027
Even with all this spending SK Hynix is in solid financial shape. They started 2026 with about 35 trillion won in cash which is almost 147% more than the previous year. This lets them pay for these big tech upgrades and infrastructure projects while staying in a net cash position.
