"We are intent on adding an overseas fab, and reviewing multiple countries and sites," a company spokesman said, declining to name the countries under consideration or confirm whether Intel was among the potential partners.
Reuters reported that SK hynix was in talks with U.S. chipmaker Intel, citing three people familiar with the discussions. SK hynix's American depositary receipts have traded on Nasdaq since July.
Options under discussion include leasing part of Intel's long-planned chipmaking complex in Ohio or forming a venture with Intel and major cloud companies seeking to secure long-term memory supplies, according to the report.
"The report went way ahead with scenario. We're still in the review stage," the spokesman said, declining to confirm whether talks with Intel were under way.
SK hynix has increasingly become a target for governments and global technology companies seeking to secure memory supplies as artificial intelligence drives explosive demand for high-bandwidth memory, or HBM.
The company commanded 50 percent of the global HBM market by revenue in the second quarter, ahead of Samsung Electronics at 33 percent and Micron Technology at 18 percent, according to Counterpoint Research.
HBM stacks multiple DRAM chips to sharply increase data-transfer capacity and has become a critical component of graphics processors and other AI accelerators.
The company's operating profit surged nearly sixfold to 98.2 trillion won ($72 billion) in the first half from 16.7 trillion won a year earlier, driven by booming AI-memory demand and sharply higher chip prices.
Cash and cash equivalents increased by 33.6 trillion won during the second quarter to 88 trillion won, while total debt fell to 18.6 trillion won, leaving SK hynix with a net cash position of 69.4 trillion won.
Its chip muscle invited both pressure and courting.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said earlier this month that the Trump administration was preparing a semiconductor tariff policy aimed at encouraging chipmakers to manufacture in the U.S. "What you're going to see is targeted, thoughtful tariff policy that basically says if you build here, you don't pay," Lutnick told CNBC's Squawk Box.
"But if you don't build here, expect to pay to enter the greatest market in the world."
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won acknowledged the pressure in July, saying SK hynix was facing heavy lobbying from customers and governments seeking additional chip supplies and that the company may need to build a U.S. factory.
SK hynix has already committed more than $4 billion to an advanced HBM packaging and research facility in West Lafayette, Indiana, where it broke ground last month.
The facility, scheduled to begin mass production in 2029, will package and test next-generation HBM but will not serve as a front-end wafer fabrication plant.
A deal involving Intel's Ohio site could therefore mark a substantially deeper move into U.S. manufacturing by bringing memory-chip fabrication itself onto American soil.
Semiconductor technologies are designated as "national core technologies" in South Korea, meaning overseas transfers involving protected technologies are subject to government review under the Industrial Technology Protection Act.
SK hynix runs a DRAM manufacturing base in Wuxi, China, but its most advanced HBM investments remain concentrated at home.
Speculation over another overseas production base surfaced when Chey visited Japan on Aug. 31 for a Korea-Japan business meeting in Sendai.
Local media reported that SK hynix could establish a semiconductor manufacturing joint venture in Japan after Chey, asked about investment plans, said, "We are in the process of studying."
AJP Takeaways
- SK hynix played down a Reuters report that it was discussing a U.S. memory fab tie-up with Intel, saying it is still reviewing multiple countries and sites for an overseas plant.
- HBM gambit has made SK hynix the global market leader with about a 50 percent share, while first-half operating profit surged nearly sixfold to 98.2 trillion won.
- Washington is intensifying pressure on Asian chipmakers to manufacture in the U.S., raising the strategic importance of SK hynix's next overseas fab decision.
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