Memory demand from AI buyers has grown so fast that SK hynix is running out of places to build. Its chairman said Monday the company is scouting locations across Japan, widening a search that has already produced a new US plant.
Speaking at a Korea-Japan chamber of commerce meeting in Sendai, Chey Tae-won told Bloomberg that any site with reliable access to power and water is under consideration. Bloomberg reported the options range from building new facilities and taking control of local firms to smaller acquisitions and joint investments, though Chey declined to name partners or products.
The push comes as NAND flash joins HBM in the AI boom, with Meta and Amazon competing for faster storage and memory shortages expected to last through 2030. SK hynix has budgeted $39B for domestic expansion alone.
Japan would complement the company’s first US memory plant in Indiana, a $4B HBM assembly hub that broke ground last week. Reports suggest Miyagi prefecture has offered a site, but nothing is confirmed.
Chey framed the search in political terms, saying Korea and Japan are forming a single economic bloc that can complement rather than compete. A Japanese hub would also put production closer to the data-center builders racing to secure memory supply.
