SK hynix Chongqing chip packaging fab in China (SK hynix) SK hynix is weighing options for its chip packaging plant in Chongqing, China, the company said Sunday, following reports it may sell a stake in the operation."We are reviewing various options for the Chongqing plant to strengthen its competitiveness, but nothing has been decided yet," an SK hynix official said.Bloomberg reported Saturday that SK hynix is speaking with prospective advisers about the facility, with a potential stake sale valuing the plant at about $3 billion.Chinese investment funds and semiconductor companies are among possible buyers, while SK hynix could retain a minority stake, according to the report.The discussion remains at an early stage and may not result in a transaction, the outlet added.The Chongqing plant, established in 2014, handles back-end packaging for NAND flash memory. It followed SK hynix’s entry into Wuxi, China, where the company began building its first major overseas wafer fabrication base in 2004.Back-end operations such as chip packaging are generally more flexible than front-end wafer production, allowing manufacturers to outsource work or bring in outside partners without relinquishing control over their most advanced manufacturing technologies, according to industry officials.Any restructuring of the Chongqing operation would come as SK hynix pours capital into advanced memory production at home to meet surging demand from artificial intelligence firms.The company on Friday approved 54.3 trillion won ($38.3 billion) in additional investment in two South Korean fabs, allocating 35.2 trillion won to its Y2 DRAM facility in Yongin and 19.1 trillion won to the M17 NAND plant in Cheongju.Construction of Y2, the second fab at its Yongin semiconductor cluster, is scheduled to begin in July 2027, with its first cleanroom opening in June 2029. The plant will produce advanced DRAM products including high-bandwidth memory used in AI accelerators.The M17 fab is scheduled to break ground in February 2027 and open its first cleanroom in December 2028, expanding the company’s NAND production capacity.SK hynix previously laid out plans to invest as much as 600 trillion won in its Yongin semiconductor cluster and 100 trillion won to expand its Cheongju production base.The expansion comes as the company seeks to capitalize on rapidly growing demand for AI memory. Omdia expects the global DRAM and NAND markets to expand at an average annual rate of about 19 percent through 2030, according to SK hynix.SK hynix also raised about $26.5 billion through its Nasdaq listing in July, the largest US stock offering by a foreign company, as investors sought greater exposure to one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI memory boom.