Samsung, SK face risks to chip production in China

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are facing increasing risks in upgrading their chipmaking technologies on time, as the United States moves to tighten controls on the shipment of equipment from the U.S. to the Korean firms’ manufacturing facilities in China, experts and industry officials said Sunday. The U.S. Department of Commerce Friday announced a plan to strip the two Korean companies as well as Intel Semiconductor of their validated end-user (VEU) status, a decision requiring them to obtain separate licences each time they seek to send U.S. chipmaking equipment to their plants in China. The firms will be given a 120-day grace period. Samsung Electronics’ plant in Xi’an, China, serves as its major NAND flash memory chip base, accounting for nearly 40 percent of its total NAND output. SK hynix operates factories in the Chinese cities of Wuxi and Dalian, where it produces its DRAM and NAND chips, respectively. While an immediate suspension of production lines is unlikely, industry observers warn that the restrictions could, in the long run, prevent process upgrades and equipmenWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times