SK Hynix forms Solidigm for acquired Intel NAND and SSD division

SK Hynix has acquired Intel’s nand and ssd division into a new subsidiary called Solidigm. The name is a contraction of Soli from solid-state drive and ‘digm’ from the word ‘paradigm’.

The subsidiary will be headquartered in San Jose, a city in the US state of California. The established subsidiary is part of the first phase of the acquisition, says SK Hynix. In the second phase, SK Hynix will also acquire intellectual property for the production of NAND memory and SSDs, along with personnel working on them for Intel. That will happen in 2025.

SK Hynix and Intel announced the proposed acquisition in October last year. The latest approval, that of the Chinese market authority, followed last week. Earlier this year, other authorities had already authorized SK Hynix to acquire the Intel business.

The Chinese government did impose some conditions. SK Hynix must not charge unreasonable prices for PCIe and SATA enterprise SSDs in China and must continue to expand production of PCIe and SATA SSDs in the five years after the acquisition is officially completed. In addition, SK Hynix must continue to supply all products to China and must not force Chinese customers to purchase products exclusively from the company. The company is also prohibited from entering into deals with competitors in China that would exclude or restrict competition.

The acquisition will make SK Hynix the second largest producer of nand memory. Samsung, also a South Korean company, remains the largest nand memory manufacturer. SK Hynix is ​​now paying $7 billion for the acquisition, with an additional $2 billion by the second phase in 2025.