# SK Hynix’s $4B HBM Project Targets U.S. Chipmaking Gap > Source: > Published: 2026-09-01 07:47:37+00:00 SK Hynix’s first high-bandwidth memory (HBM) advanced packaging facility in the U.S., worth $4 billion, is aimed at helping to close a manufacturing vulnerability in the American semiconductor industry. South Korea’s memory giant said in an event in the U.S. state of Indiana in late August that it will package and test HBM chips in the U.S. for the first time by the second half of 2029. HBM has been the essential mainstream memory supporting the expansion of AI. Advanced packaging combines multiple chips into a single package or, in the case of HBM, stacks memory vertically to enhance performance, overcoming the physical limits of Moore’s Law. Because much of the world’s advanced packaging capacity is concentrated in Asia, the U.S. faces a supply chain vulnerability at this critical stage of chip production. The U.S. leads the world in AI chip design but outsources most of the manufacturing to companies such as TSMC in Taiwan and Samsung and SK Hynix in South Korea. [View All](https://www.eetimes.com/category/sponsored-content/) The Indiana fab will do the final processing of HBM chips that SK Hynix makes in South Korea. Being a leader in HBM manufacturing isn’t enough, SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-Jung said at the ceremony in West Lafayette, Indiana. “We must also develop customized memory supply for our customers through advanced packaging,” Kwak noted. “We must maximize the performance of memory, AI chips, and the entire system.” The SK Hynix facility will start commercial production of HBM4E chips in the second half of 2029, handling hundreds of thousands of wafers per year. The company hinted that it may manufacture HBM chips near the Indiana site after 2030. “By 2030, Indiana is expected to become a key HBM production base,” Kwak said. SK Hynix is in discussion with hundreds of its suppliers to build an industry ecosystem in the area, he added. The company is working with nearby Purdue University on R&D and upcoming advanced packaging tech. SK Hynix’s advanced packaging R&D facility will be next door to local production lines, enabling customers, universities, and partners to cooperate in the development of next-generation packaging technologies together with prototype fabrication and performance validation. **Competition** Amkor, [the world’s second largest semiconductor packaging and testing (OSAT) company](https://www.trendforce.com/presscenter/news/20250513-12577.html?), is investing about $7 billion in an advanced packaging facility near TSMC’s new chip fabs in Phoenix, Arizona. The Amkor facility will be ready for production around 2028, the same timeframe for SK Hynix’s production start in Indiana. TSMC also plans to open its first advanced packaging facility in Arizona before 2029. The company has struggled with HBM packaging issues this year, [according to analysts](https://www.eetimes.com/tsmcs-hbm-packaging-yield-issues-help-intel-analysts-say/). ASE Technology, the world’s largest chip packager, is doubling down on investment in Asia with a record $10.5 billion budget for expansion including advanced packaging this year. **Purdue** Purdue is one of several universities leading U.S. semiconductor reshoring efforts after launching the nation’s first comprehensive Semiconductor Degrees Program in 2022. Purdue’s [Birck Nanotechnology Center](http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.nmGqF407JBgT26NDwOtoqibWeFkFXvR-2Bcl4eRQ8PrS3001AQBE7JbX5Jqmfda1gghPV3_TluacimQn-2F1ZjUtV2Gj2k4-2FhOFEhcsiq-2F8W6aVh190I3bkSCCBK131XEMaJtBnkFpSVX3rPs66XtDsjDrdON4Zw71E2eYdhS5Ky4hM53-2Fr2NA18Wj8c-2B8YrrwKrlptxUuvjo-2B042HYASf-2BU32B70j30tlkli-2B13Q1YobpQ50q6kUViWbWT-2B92SK9pz8id0AslWGE7kLCTh9F1kEyD-2FBtfnPR4Yy-2FJLo7vSBhD5C16N7Yev1YoEz0scKirPdHqgEngn9N17QppSNCrGdd7whKXv9XuBrPVI8LGKqhWpTXFv8pgGSO5MNT9gonVx1oTnhh0l1gBcGD7VuIXWQDTGY3li1qOL1V3WC1tniir3AWZFs9yoYLxAt61EWVCEZWV9qLON9BVKnsjcR-2BNMquJNRX-2Fw-3D-3D) has one of the largest academic cleanrooms in the U.S. and 33,000 square feet of specialized laboratories. Mark Lundstrom, dean of the College of Engineering at Purdue and the university’s chief semiconductor officer, said he’s confident that Purdue can meet SK Hynix’s demand for engineering talent. “We’re getting an awful lot of students trained in all aspects of the ecosystem,” Lundstrom told EE Times. “Not only electrical and computer engineering, but materials, chemical, mechanical, industrial engineering. It’s really across the spectrum because these companies need so many different kinds of talent.” Purdue has gone from 40 students working in chip design projects four years ago to nearly 400 today. The university nanotechnology center has 100 students doing chip fabrication projects. “We didn’t even have those programs four years ago,” Lundstrom noted. Purdue’s Center for Advanced System Integration and Packaging has around thirty-five faculty supporting one of the nation’s largest programs in advanced packaging. “That was probably a factor in SK Hynix’s decision to partner with us and come here,” Lundstrom said. “There was some indication in the event that this is the first step in something much bigger. We’re focused right now on making sure that this packaging facility and R&D lab are successful, and that we bring the supply chain partners here.” Purdue’s other major partners in the semiconductor industry are Taiwanese chip designer MediaTek and Europe’s R&D organization imec. ##### Also read: [TSMC’s HBM-Packaging Yield Issues Help Intel, Analysts Say](https://www.eetimes.com/tsmcs-hbm-packaging-yield-issues-help-intel-analysts-say/) [Smartphone Makers Squeezed by Soaring Chip Costs](https://www.eetimes.com/smartphone-makers-squeezed-by-soaring-chip-costs/) [Sony-TSMC $4.7B Deal Helps Thwart Samsung, Analysts Say](https://www.eetimes.com/sony-tsmc-4-7b-deal-helps-thwart-samsung-analysts-say/) [U.S. Startup Fields Quantum Sensors to Reduce Reliance on GPS](https://www.eetimes.com/u-s-startup-fields-quantum-sensors-to-reduce-reliance-on-gps/)