- On August 27, 2026, SK Hynix held a groundbreaking ceremony for its advanced packaging plant in West Lafayette, Indiana, officially launching this project with an investment of over $4 billion.
- The plant will become SK Hynix's first high-bandwidth memory (HBM) advanced packaging facility in the United States, supporting U.S. efforts to localize critical semiconductor supply chains.
- SK Hynix plans to begin cleanroom operations in the second half of 2028.
- The company plans to begin volume production of its next-generation HBM4E chips in the third quarter of 2029.
- By 2030, Indiana is expected to become a key HBM production base in the U.S.
- The more than $4 billion project marks a major expansion of SK Hynix's U.S. operations as surging investment in artificial intelligence drives demand for high-bandwidth memory.
- SK Hynix aims to build an advanced memory supply chain in the United States, bringing production closer to major customers including Nvidia, Microsoft, and Alphabet's Google.
- The U.S. government finalized $458 million in grants and up to $500 million in loans under the CHIPS Act in December 2024 to support this project.
SK Hynix has officially broken ground on a $4 billion advanced packaging plant in West Lafayette, Indiana, marking a significant expansion of its U.S. operations. This facility will be the company's first high-bandwidth memory (HBM) packaging site in the U.S., aimed at supporting the growing demand for AI technologies.12
The plant is set to begin cleanroom operations in the second half of 2028 and is expected to start volume production of its next-generation HBM4E chips by the third quarter of 2029. Chief Executive Kwak Noh-Jung anticipates that the current memory chip shortage will last until the end of 2030, with no clear signs of a downturn in demand.345
Kwak stated, “I saw no clear signs of a memory downturn and expected any eventual slowdown to involve moderating rather than sharply falling demand.” The facility aims to produce hundreds of thousands of wafers annually, bringing production closer to major clients like Nvidia, Microsoft, and Google.7
The project is expected to create approximately 7,000 jobs and enhance the resilience of the semiconductor supply chain in the U.S. Additionally, the U.S. government has finalized $458 million in grants and up to $500 million in loans under the CHIPS Act to support this initiative.8
As SK Hynix aims to build a robust memory supply chain in the U.S., the facility will also house an AI semiconductor research and development center, further solidifying its role in the evolving tech landscape.
“The facility, located at Purdue Research Park, will create about 7,000 direct and indirect jobs and is supported by $458 million in CHIPS Act grants and up to $500 million in loans. SK Hynix holds 58% of the global HBM market, ahead of Samsung and Micron.”
