SK Hynix has placed an order with ASML worth nearly $8 billion. This is the largest publicly announced single order in the history of the Dutch chip equipment manufacturer. The machines will be delivered by the end of 2027 at the latest and will be used for the production of advanced memory chips.
The South Korean memory chip manufacturer announced the order via a stock exchange filing. SK Hynix is purchasing EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) machines for mass production of new products. The tools will be deployed at two factories: the new Yongin factory and the M15X factory in Cheongju. The latter is specifically focused on the production of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) chips, the memory component widely used in AI systems.
Reuters previously reported that SK Hynix aims to accelerate the opening of the new Yongin plant to February 2027, due to rising demand for memory chips. Last year, SK Hynix became the first chipmaker in the world to assemble a commercial High-NA EUV system from ASML in a production environment, at its M16 plant in South Korea.
Breakthrough for HBM and advanced DRAM
For ASML, the order fits into a broader strategy centered on advanced chip manufacturing equipment. In early March, the company announced that it aims to expand beyond EUV and focus on advanced packaging for AI chips. And in February, ASML published results of a breakthrough in its EUV technology: by increasing machine power to 1,000 watts, chip production per machine is expected to rise by 50 percent by 2030.
ASML shares rose 0.9 percent to 1,185.60 euros on the Amsterdam stock exchange following the news. SK Hynix shares closed 5.7 percent higher. This was also linked to a report by the Korea Economic Daily that the company may raise up to $10 billion through an initial public offering in the United States.
For the chip industry, the order is remarkably large. According to estimates, it involves approximately 30 new EUV machines over the next two years. SK Hynix aims to significantly expand its total EUV capacity with this order, with multiple sources having previously reported on plans to roughly double the EUV fleet by 2027.