2 min

Tags in this article

, , ,

South Korean memory manufacturer SK Hynix announces that it will acquire the NAND memory and storage business from Intel for 9 billion dollars. The Optane business retains in the hands of Intel.

The two companies aim to obtain governmental approvals by late 2021. The acquisition consists of the NAND SSD branch, together with corresponding patents, employees and facilities in the Chinese city of Dalian. At that time, SK Hynix will make the first payment of 7 billion dollars.

Intel will continue to make NAND products in Dalian for a few more years until the acquisition is fully completed. Then, SK Hynix will transfer the remaining 2 billion dollars. The companies expect the acquisition to be wrapped up by March 2025.

Stronger market position

SK Hynix is one of the major players in the NAND industry, along with competiters such as Samsung, Micron, Intel, Western Digital and Kioxia. The company states that, with this acquisition, it aims to enhance the competitiveness of its storage solutions.

According to Statista, Intel and SK Hynix each control about 11.5 percent of the NAND market share. After the merger, SK Hynix would become the second-largest manufacturer of NAND memory, after Samsung.

Smooth transition

Intel states that the company intends to invest the transaction proceeds in long-term goals such as artificial intelligence and 5G.

The two companies indicate that they intend to make the transition as painless as possible for customers, suppliers and employees. To achieve this, they will collaborate similarly to as they did during the development of DDR5 memory.