BIG TECH IS TRYING TO FUND SK HYNIX CHIP PRODUCTION
Reuters reports SK Hynix has received unprecedented offers from global tech firms trying to secure memory chip supply.
The offers include investing in dedicated memory production lines and financing ASML EUV machine purchases.
One source said available capacity is “essentially zero right now.”
“There isn’t even a small portion that can be designated for a specific customer.”
SK Hynix is cautious because customer funding could tie it to specific buyers and force lower chip pricing in exchange for long-term revenue guarantees.
Another structure being discussed across long-term chip agreements: customers provide 30% to 40% of cash upfront.
we're making @blocks smaller today. here's my note to the company.
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today we're making one of the hardest decisions in the history of our company: we're reducing our organization by nearly half, from over 10,000 people to just under 6,000. that means over 4,000 of you are being asked to leave or entering into consultation. i'll be straight about what's happening, why, and what it means for everyone.
first off, if you're one of the people affected, you'll receive your salary for 20 weeks + 1 week per year of tenure, equity vested through the end of may, 6 months of health care, your corporate devices, and $5,000 to put toward whatever you need to help you in this transition (if you’re outside the U.S. you’ll receive similar support but exact details are going to vary based on local requirements). i want you to know that before anything else. everyone will be notified today, whether you're being asked to leave, entering consultation, or asked to stay.
we're not making this decision because we're in trouble. our business is strong. gross profit continues to grow, we continue to serve more and more customers, and profitability is improving. but something has changed. we're already seeing that the intelligence tools we’re creating and using, paired with smaller and flatter teams, are enabling a new way of working which fundamentally changes what it means to build and run a company. and that's accelerating rapidly.
i had two options: cut gradually over months or years as this shift plays out, or be honest about where we are and act on it now. i chose the latter. repeated rounds of cuts are destructive to morale, to focus, and to the trust that customers and shareholders place in our ability to lead. i'd rather take a hard, clear action now and build from a position we believe in than manage a slow reduction of people toward the same outcome. a smaller company also gives us the space to grow our business the right way, on our own terms, instead of constantly reacting to market pressures.
a decision at this scale carries risk. but so does standing still. we've done a full review to determine the roles and people we require to reliably grow the business from here, and we've pressure-tested those decisions from multiple angles. i accept that we may have gotten some of them wrong, and we've built in flexibility to account for that, and do the right thing for our customers.
we're not going to just disappear people from slack and email and pretend they were never here. communication channels will stay open through thursday evening (pacific) so everyone can say goodbye properly, and share whatever you wish. i'll also be hosting a live video session to thank everyone at 3:35pm pacific. i know doing it this way might feel awkward. i'd rather it feel awkward and human than efficient and cold.
to those of you leaving…i’m grateful for you, and i’m sorry to put you through this. you built what this company is today. that's a fact that i'll honor forever. this decision is not a reflection of what you contributed. you will be a great contributor to any organization going forward.
to those staying…i made this decision, and i'll own it. what i'm asking of you is to build with me. we're going to build this company with intelligence at the core of everything we do. how we work, how we create, how we serve our customers. our customers will feel this shift too, and we're going to help them navigate it: towards a future where they can build their own features directly, composed of our capabilities and served through our interfaces. that's what i'm focused on now. expect a note from me tomorrow.
jack
SK Hynix signaling memory prices stay elevated through 2026 on unrelenting AI demand—real shortages, not over-ordering. This reinforces why enterprises need to lock in infrastructure now before costs climb further. #AI#DellTech#APEX
SK Hynix disclosed the following at today's virtual group meeting with Goldman Sachs:
1. Memory prices are expected to continue rising throughout the year, driven by robust demand from AI customers—underpinned by advancements in AI services—coupled with limited supply growth.
2. A particularly noteworthy point: customers recognize that near-term production ramp-ups are difficult, and understand that double-ordering only drives price increases rather than higher allocations.
3. While there is potential for despeccing among PC and mobile customers, constrained supply growth is expected to offset this.
4. Server customer inventories have reached healthy levels, while PC and mobile customer inventories are on a declining trend.
5. No customer is able to fully meet their memory demand this year, and Hynix's own DRAM and NAND inventories remain very lean at approximately 4 weeks—reinforcing supplier leverage.
McKinsey has raised AI GDP impact estimates from $15 trillion to $21 trillion, at the midpoint.
This was already tech's largest impact to GDP and has now been raised 67%.
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