SK hynix Inc. is in the spotlight after it was reported that Japanese NAND flash manufacturer Kioxia Holdings Corp. made a proposal to the South Korean chipmaker to use its NAND production facilities in a bid to break through to a merger with its U.S. peer Western Digital Corp. (WD).

Kioxia Corporation and Western Digital Corporation announced today that their joint venture manufacturing facilities at Yokkaichi and Kitakami plants have been approved to receive an up to 150 billion yen subsidy.

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are planning to mass-produce GDDR7 DRAM, a next-generation DRAM for graphics cards, within the first half of this year. GDDR7 DRAM, which is mainly used in Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) -- a core of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) era -- is expected to continue South Korea’s dominance in the semiconductor industry following High Bandwidth Memory (HBM).

To achieve higher-speed optical communication compared to electricity, collaboration with chipmakers is essential. NTT plans to collaborate with Intel for the central processing unit (CPU) and with SK hynix for Memory chips.

South Korea will designate high bandwidth Memory (HBM), the technology incorporated into artificial intelligence (AI) chips, as a national strategic technology and will give tax benefits to developers of the technology such as Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc.

Sampling now with production in the first half of 2024, LPCAMM2 is the first disruptive new form factor for client PCs since the introduction of small outline dual inline Memory modules (SODIMMs) in 1997.

SK hynix held a press conference titled?“Memory, the Power of AI”?on the sidelines of CES 2024 in Las Vegas where its CEO Kwak Noh-Jung laid out the company’s vision in the AI era.

CFM latest Release“Global Memory market change in 2023 and market outlook in 2024”，analyze market changes and future development.

According to sources in the semiconductor industry on Monday, Samsung Electronics’ Device Solutions (DS) has set its operating profit target for 2024 at 11.5 trillion won, accounting for about one-third of the South Korean electronics behemoth’s total operating profit estimate for this year.

SK hynix has embarked on strengthening its research and development (R&D) capabilities to enhance its high-performance NAND competitiveness by successively recruiting NAND flash Memory experts from Intel with decades of experience.

The global HBM market, presently dominated by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, is projected to grow from approximately 2.5 trillion won this year to about 8 trillion won by 2028.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) smartphones are forecasted to lead market trends starting from 2024 with smartphone manufacturers planning to incorporate generative AI functions into their devices. Industry leaders like Samsung Electronics, with its Galaxy AI, are expected to dominate this emerging market.

Samsung Electronics Co., will build a 40 billion yen ($281 million) advanced chip packaging research and development center in Japan amid improving ties between the two neighboring countries.

Micron announced results for its first quarter of fiscal 2024, which ended November 30, 2023.

Market introduction of EXCERIA PLUS G2 2TB microSDXC Memory cards is scheduled to begin in the coming quarter.