South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix announced today that it has completed the second phase of its acquisition of Intel’s NAND flash and SSD business, marking the official conclusion of a nearly five-year-long deal. This acquisition will boost SK Hynix’s NAND market share to 20%, further narrowing the gap with industry leader Samsung.
Deal Details: Two Phases, Totaling Approximately $8.85 Billion (About 64.3 Billion RMB)
The transaction was first announced in October 2020 and executed in two stages:
Phase One (Completed December 2021): SK Hynix paid approximately $6.61 billion to acquire Intel’s SSD business, the NAND flash manufacturing facility in Dalian, China, and established a subsidiary, Solidigm, to operate the related operations.
Phase Two (Completed March 28, 2025): SK Hynix paid the remaining $2.24 billion to acquire core assets, including NAND flash wafer production and design-related intellectual property, the R&D team, and employees at the Dalian factory.
With the completion of this deal, Intel will fully exit the NAND flash market, shifting its focus to CPUs, AI, and data center businesses.
SK Hynix’s NAND Market Share Jumps to 20%, Challenging Samsung’s Leadership
This acquisition significantly strengthens SK Hynix’s competitiveness in the global NAND market:
Market Share Growth: After integrating Intel’s assets, SK Hynix’s NAND market share rises from 12% to 20%, surpassing Kioxia to become the world’s second-largest NAND supplier, trailing only Samsung (33.9%).
Technology and Capacity Boost: The 144-layer 3D NAND technology from Intel’s Dalian factory and enterprise SSD customer base (e.g., AWS, Microsoft Azure) will accelerate SK Hynix’s development of advanced processes beyond 200 layers.
Strong Financial Performance: In 2024, SK Hynix’s NAND division recorded revenue of 19 trillion KRW, a 280% increase from 2019, with Solidigm making a significant contribution.
Korean Firms Dominate Half of the Memory Chip Market
This acquisition signals a potential shift in the memory industry from a “U.S. (Intel), Japan (Kioxia), Korea” triopoly to a “Korea-dominated” landscape. Currently, Samsung and SK Hynix together hold approximately 54% of the global NAND market, while their combined share in the DRAM market exceeds 70%.
Additionally, SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung recently revealed that the company’s 2025 HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) capacity is fully sold out. He also projected that the HBM market size in 2025 will grow ninefold compared to 2023, with enterprise SSD demand increasing by 3.5 times.
Analysts note that SK Hynix must strike a balance between integrating Intel’s technical architecture (e.g., QLC NAND) and its own product lines to maximize synergies. Meanwhile, as Samsung and SK Hynix plan to raise NAND flash prices starting in April, the industry may enter a new cycle of price increases.
This acquisition not only solidifies SK Hynix’s position in the industry but also foreshadows intensifying competition in the global memory market, where technological innovation and production capacity will be key determinants of success.