SK Hynix Plans to Sell Chongqing Packaging & Testing Assets at ~$3 Billion Valuation
Taylor Wilson
SK Hynix is exploring options for its Chongqing chip packaging and testing plant, with a potential deal valued at roughly $3 billion; the move comes as the company commits KRW 54 trillion to domestic expansion in Korea — a simultaneous push-and-pull reshaping the global NAND supply chain.
What is being sold and to whom?
SK Hynix has engaged advisers to evaluate options for its Chongqing packaging and testing facility, including bringing in outside investors.
Packaging and testing — the final manufacturing step where wafers are diced into individual chips, encased, and verified — is the plant's core function, primarily serving NAND flash back-end production.
Potential buyers include Chinese funds and industrial players; SK Hynix may retain a minority stake. This means → the company is not making a clean exit but trying to hand off control while keeping a supply-chain link intact.
What does the ~$3 billion price tag tell us?
The potential deal values the facility at roughly $3 billion, reflecting its buildings, equipment, and order backlog.
In plain terms = packaging and testing is not the highest-margin link in the chip chain, but the assets are heavy and cash flows are steady — a $3 billion tag signals substantial installed capacity.
People familiar with the matter stress that discussions remain at an early stage and may not lead to a transaction; an SK Hynix spokesperson declined to comment.
What is the KRW 54 trillion domestic expansion?
On the same day, SK Hynix announced plans to invest KRW 54 trillion to expand chip capacity inside South Korea.
The spending covers a new DRAM fab in Yongin and a new NAND wafer fab in Cheongju, aimed at meeting the surge in memory demand driven by AI.
This reflects a clear strategic direction: keep the most advanced manufacturing at home and free up capital from mature back-end operations.
Selling in China while expanding in Korea — what is the logic?
The two moves run in parallel. The core logic is resource reallocation: shift capital and management bandwidth from mature packaging toward AI-driven advanced manufacturing.
This means → SK Hynix sees future profit growth in HBM (high-bandwidth memory) and advanced DRAM, not in legacy NAND packaging.
The key risk the market is watching: whether SK Hynix can divest the Chongqing assets without disrupting the stability of its global NAND supply chain — the plant handles a significant share of back-end capacity.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.