SK Hynix has begun construction of a more than $4 billion high-bandwidth memory and advanced-packaging facility in West Lafayette, Indiana, setting a target to begin volume production of HBM4E chips in the third quarter of 2029. The project marks a major expansion of the South Korean chipmakerโs US manufacturing footprint as artificial-intelligence investment continues to drive demand for advanced memory.
Chief Executive Kwak Noh-Jung said the Indiana site is expected eventually to reach annual capacity of hundreds of thousands of wafers. The company wants the plant to sit closer to major customers including Nvidia, Microsoft and Alphabetโs Google, reducing the geographic separation between a critical part of the AI hardware supply chain and some of its largest users.
A long bet on tight memory supply
SK Hynix is making that investment against a bullish demand view. Kwak said the company expects the current memory shortage to persist through the end of 2030 and sees no clear sign of a sharp downturn. His expectation is that any eventual slowdown would look more like moderating demand than a collapse, which helps explain why the company is committing capital years before the Indiana plant reaches mass production.
The practical test is execution. The plant will not begin volume output for roughly three years, so SK Hynix must build capacity while technology generations and customer requirements continue to evolve. If the project stays on schedule, the Indiana site will give the company a US base for next-generation HBM at a time when AI customers are seeking large and increasingly specialized memory supplies. The next milestone is therefore not another demand forecast but progress toward the 2029 production timetable.