Seoul: The worries grew that the Hynix SK planned to overhaul the Chinese factory with the latest chipmaking machine could be in danger because of the opposition from the US.
Earlier this week, US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai admitted that Washington had opposed the efforts by the South Korean Chipmaker to bring advanced machines to the chip fabrication plant in Wuxi, during a radio interview in Seoul.
“There are legitimate concerns about the risk of national security in terms of where this technology ends,” he said, implies that such high-tech tools can be used to improve the ability of Chinese military and other strategic industries.
The technology in question is the Dutch language lithography ASML Ultraviolet Extreme Holding (EUV), it is important to package Tinier transistors in the microchips to make it faster, stronger and more energy efficient, report Yonhap news agency.
The Geopolitical situation that Hynix’s Genting SK found itself in contrast to the recent announcement by Samsung Electronics, the largest memory chip manufacturer in the world, to produce an investment of $ 17 billion in the US to increase its competitive advantage in the global semiconductor industry.
Two days after Tai made the statement, Samsung launched a plan to build a new chip fabrication plant in Taylor, Texas, to produce a sophisticated chip used in applications for mobile phones, 5G, high-performance computing and artificial intelligence, based on EUV technology.
Samsung has worked closely with Asml since the early 2000s for technical breakthroughs in semiconductor development.
This is a close partner, an investor and also a customer for the Dutch company.
In March last year, South Korean technology giants were the first in the chip industry to succeed in adopting EUV technology in DRAM production.
SK Hynix, the second largest memory chip maker in the world after Samsung, is a lathekomer in terms of the application of EUV technology.
However, facing unexpected challenges, SK Hynix sealed a five-year contract with ASML earlier this year to buy around 20 other EUV machines, great investment to improve the facilities and improve competitiveness.
Hynix SK is estimated to have two or three EUV machines, far less than 17-19 machines owned by Samsung and around 40 by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC).
The company spokesman told Yonhap news agency on Friday that there was no discussion to carry EUV equipment to China or direct plan to do so, and it was still early to discuss US restrictions, if any, in its plan to overhaul the Chinese plants.