GoKawiil
Tech News
Neocloud providers CoreWeave, Nebius and IREN each lost more than 30% in October, while CoreWeave's credit default swaps widened past distress levels and its bond yields topped 15%. SK Hynix's Solidigm unit scrapped its IPO plans, South Korea's Elice Group fell 30% on its debut, and Australia's NextDC dropped nearly 40% after cutting its earnings forecast.
SK hynix said it has scrapped plans for an initial public offering of its US enterprise SSD unit Solidigm, blaming unfavorable stock market conditions and a semiconductor share price correction. The company confirmed it will still build a new fab for Solidigm in the US to meet rising demand for high-capacity enterprise SSDs, though it has not disclosed the facility's capacity, cost, or timeline.
SK Hynix said its subsidiary Solidigm will pause its review of pre-IPO and IPO options, citing recent capital market conditions and share price trends. The chipmaker's shares initially fell 3% before paring losses to trade 0.3% lower on the news. SK Hynix said it will keep exploring other ways to fund Solidigm's planned U.S. semiconductor fabrication plant.
Micron CTO Scott DeBoer said the company has decided not to pursue 4F² DRAM cell technology, which it invented, citing increased manufacturing complexity and cost without meaningful density gains. The announcement came during a company event, diverging from rivals Samsung and SK hynix, who reportedly still include 4F² designs in their roadmaps according to TechInsights.
Intel announced it has installed the first major structural truss at its New Albany, Ohio semiconductor plant, marking the next construction phase. The project, originally expected to produce chips by 2025, is now targeted for completion in 2030, with a second fab slated for 2031. Intel has not confirmed reported talks with SK Hynix about leasing foundry space at the site.
Samsung Electronics is reportedly planning to convert its Xian factory to produce 286-layer NAND flash chips by year-end, while SK Hynix aims to upgrade its Dalian plant to make chips with 240 or more layers, according to Reuters sources. Both companies are racing to boost advanced memory output as AI data center demand grows, while fending off rising competition from Chinese manufacturers such as CXMT and YMTC.
Electronics hobbyist Blighted Agent bought a 2x16GB SK hynix DDR5-5600 SODIMM kit for $120 and transferred its memory chips onto blank desktop DDR5 PCBs bought from AliExpress, creating a working 2x16GB DDR5-7800 desktop kit. Total parts cost came to about $175, including PCBs, heatsinks, and reballing materials, with the process involving desoldering the chips with hot air, reballing them, and remounting them onto the new boards along with the SPD and BIOS chips.
Samsung is building out its Pyeongtaek semiconductor campus, including a fourth fabrication plant, employing large construction crews under strict safety protocols. The company projects memory chip demand will keep rising through 2028, and workers like safety officer Choi Hye-rin describe steady, well-paid work at the site.
SK hynix is reportedly offering to build a NAND flash fab in the United States in exchange for US approval to ship more chipmaking equipment to its Solidigm subsidiary's Dalian plant in China. The equipment would fill unused space in the plant's Mod B building, completed in 2023 but never fully outfitted due to the memory market downturn. Solidigm has applied for export licenses covering tools from Applied Materials, KLA and Lam Research, but the Commerce Department has not yet approved the additional shipments.
SK hynix's Solidigm unit is reportedly linking a proposed 3D NAND fab investment in the U.S. to Washington approving more equipment export licenses for its Dalian, China facility. The Dalian plant, which makes 192-layer NAND for Solidigm's data-center SSDs, relies on U.S. toolmakers Applied Materials, KLA and Lam Research, whose shipments need government licenses. The Commerce Department approved limited 2026 shipments last December but has not yet authorized exports for 2027, according to Reuters.
SK Hynix's Solidigm unit is reportedly asking the U.S. government for permission to send American chipmaking equipment to its Dalian, China facility, linking that approval to its plan to build a NAND flash memory factory in upstate New York, according to Reuters sources. SK Hynix told TechCrunch it is not trying to expand capacity at Dalian and that the equipment move is being coordinated with and authorized by U.S. officials.
SK Hynix, Samsung and Micron shares fell sharply this week, with SK Hynix down 26%, Samsung 22% and Micron 11% over five days. The drop followed China's CXMT unveiling a new server memory architecture, plus a South Korean newspaper opinion piece urging Seoul to prepare for a potential slowdown in AI-driven memory demand and a possible oversupply by 2029.