SEOUL: Intel Corp INTC.O has agreed to sell its NAND memory chip business to SK Hynix Inc 000660.KS for $9 billion.
The move marks the latest effort by the US chip giant to divest its non-core businesses, move away from the volatile commodity NAND chip industry and focus on its remaining Optane memory business, which is smaller but more lucrative because it taps more advanced technology.
It is the biggest acquisition to date for SK Hynix and follows its $3.7 billion investment in Japanese rival Kioxia in 2017, as the Korean firm tries to boost its capacity to build NAND chips – used to store data in smartphones and data centre servers – and beef up its pricing power.
The deal will help SK Hynix overtake Kioxia 6600.T in the NAND memory market while narrowing the gap with market leader Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 005930.KS.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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