South Korea’s SK hynix plans to increase NAND flash production at its Dalian plant by 50% in 2027, signalling renewed confidence in China’s memory market amidst intensifying global competition and regulatory hurdles.
SK hynix is pressing ahead with its flash-memory ambitions in China, with reports in South Korea saying the company plans to lift output at its Dalian NAND plant by 50% in 2027. The move would take monthly production from about 100,000 wafers to roughly 150,000, according to the reports cited by TechPowerUp and other South Korean outlets, as the company prepares for stronger demand for NAND flash used in enterprise storage and high-capacity solid-state drives.
The Dalian site is operated by Solidigm, the US-based subsidiary SK hynix created after it bought Intel’s NAND and SSD business in 2021. Solidigm was intended to be a key platform for expansion in mainland China, but export controls and a downturn in the NAND market had stalled those plans for years. The latest signals suggest that SK hynix now sees conditions improving enough to resume investment, including the start of production of 3D QLC NAND with more than 200 active layers, a design aimed at denser, lower-cost storage for corporate customers.
The Chinese expansion also fits a wider capital-spending push across SK hynix’s memory business. Tom’s Hardware reported that the company has placed a record order for ASML extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment, part of a broader effort to expand high-bandwidth memory and advanced DRAM output in South Korea. The company is also investing heavily in Cheongju and the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, with new cleanrooms and packaging capacity scheduled to come online around 2027. Together, these projects show a manufacturer trying to balance NAND, DRAM and AI-linked memory demand across multiple regions.
The timing matters. China’s own memory champions, including YMTC and CXMT, are also expanding output, with new fabs expected to ramp up in 2027. That points to a more competitive market just as global NAND supply is expected to come back into balance. SK hynix is also said to be weighing a possible US initial public offering of Solidigm, which could give the business a separate source of capital if the company decides to monetise part of the unit after the recovery in flash demand.
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