US opposition to South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix’s plans to upgrade a plant in China threatens the company’s competitiveness, underscoring the challenge for a sector caught up in growing tech rivalry between Washington and Beijing.
SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker, wants to modify its Wuxi factory in eastern China, where it makes about 40 per cent of its Dram memory chips, which enable short-term storage for graphic, mobile and server chips.
The company wants to install extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) chipmaking machines, the next-generation chipmaking equipment made by Dutch company ASML. Analysts said that the EUV machines must be installed within the next three years for SK Hynix to keep up with other global chipmakers, such as Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology, in the race to boost productivity and cut costs.