SK hynix customers—including major AI/cloud builders—are directly purchasing EUV machines and funding new fabrication lines as global AI-driven memory shortages worsen. The arrangement reflects desperation: customers are absorbing hundreds of millions in capex to secure supply rather than wait.
This marks a structural shift in memory procurement. Historically, chipmakers alone funded fabs; now major buyers are backing capacity to guarantee allocation, signaling that memory scarcity will persist long enough to justify customer-side capex.