SK hynix is reportedly offering a new US NAND factory as part of a deal to secure approval for additional equipment at Solidigm’s Dalian plant in China.
SK hynix is reportedly offering to build a NAND flash factory in the United States if Washington clears additional equipment shipments to its Dalian site in China, a move that would link domestic investment to the company’s ability to expand output at an existing plant already central to Solidigm’s SSD business. According to the reports, the plan is aimed at boosting production of 192-layer floating-gate 3D NAND used in data centre drives, while also giving the US government a new semiconductor manufacturing commitment.
The immediate bottleneck is not a shortage of floor space in Dalian but the lack of regulatory approval for more tools. The facility’s Mod B building was completed in 2023, yet parts of it were left unused after the memory downturn. Solidigm has reportedly applied for licences to import more equipment, but the Commerce Department has not signed off on additional shipments beyond a limited authorisation granted last December for 2026 deliveries.
That distinction matters because the Dalian plant is the only site in the world making Solidigm’s 192-layer floating-gate NAND, which feeds SSDs for artificial intelligence, enterprise and hyperscale data centres. The company’s output appears to be sold as fast as it can be made, so equipping the empty space would translate directly into more drive supply. Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter, said SK hynix has denied that it is seeking a capacity expansion at Mod B, arguing instead that the installation would be within the scope of US-authorised activity.
The licensing issue is complicated by the fact that the Dalian operation depends on equipment from US suppliers including Applied Materials, KLA and Lam Research, all of which require export approvals for shipments to China. Washington has generally allowed some tools to continue flowing to multinational-owned factories, but only on the understanding that those sites do not expand output or move to newer processes without fresh permission. That leaves the proposed Dalian installation in a grey area: it would not create a new building, but it would still raise production.
The timing is also notable because Solidigm is already working on successors to its current memory. At Computex 2026, Avi Shetty, who leads the company’s AI solutions and ecosystem business, said Solidigm planned to develop fifth- and sixth-generation floating-gate NAND, while stressing utilisation and profitability. The company has not publicly linked those plans to a specific factory layout, and the reports make clear that additional production in Dalian and any future generation shift would be separate approvals under US export rules.
The broader commercial logic is straightforward. More output from Dalian could help fund a possible US fab, which would be significant because no company has made NAND flash in America for years. The same reports say an initial public offering is also under consideration from as early as 2027, although neither the factory plan nor the financing route has been finalised. For now, the company’s near-term objective is to get more tools into the Chinese site it already controls, while Washington weighs whether that should be tied to a new American plant.
Disclaimer: This content is intended for informational purposes only. Readers are advised to exercise their own judgement, conduct due diligence, or consult a qualified expert before acting on any information provided.
