South Korean memory semiconductor manufacturer SK hynix said Thursday it will invest 3.15 trillion won (US$2.63 billion) to build a new plant at home and expand production of memory chips in China.

Prices of NAND flash memory chips for smartphones and other mobile devices have shown signs of a rebound.

SK hynix, the world's No. 2 memory chipmaker, plans to spend 2.2 trillion won to build a new NAND chip plant in Cheongju, central South Korea.

The remaining 950 billion won will be used to boost the production capacity of its Chinese plant in Wuxi, the company said in a statement.

The average prices of DRAM and NAND flash memory chips are expected to significantly improve in the fourth quarter, helped by stronger demand for notebook computers and a supply shortage in the NAND flash market, according to industry data.

The global market for NAND flash memory chips is likely to significantly grow in the coming years on stronger demand for high-performance mobile storage devices.

SK hynix will begin construction of the new plant in Cheongju, about 120 km south of Seoul, in August next year and plans to complete building the plant in June 2019.

Park Seong-wook, chief executive of SK hynix, said the new plant in Cheongju "will become a core base of SK hynix in facing the fourth industrial revolution."

By: DocMemory
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