South Korea-based SK Group is in talks with US chip maker Qualcomm to develop a new hyper-speed memory chip, which will be tailored for use in data centres.
The new chips would run applications or computers for data centre operation in order to meet soaring corporate demand amid the global chip shortages that could cause server delays, according to SK Square, the parent of memory chip maker SK hynix. SK Group is Korea‘s third-largest conglomerate by assets, dedicated to chips, ICT solutions, batteries, chemical and bioscience.
SK hynix, the world’s second-largest DRAM chip maker and fourth-largest NAND Flash maker, will likely take part in the development. These were discussed when Park Jung-ho, who doubles as vice chairman of SK Square and SK hynix, who met Qualcomm Chief Executive Officer Cristiano Amon during CES 2022 to discuss room for collaboration on semiconductors, fifth-generational networks and information and communication technologies, according to a report in The Korea Herald.
The meeting was also attended by telecommunication affiliate SK Telecom‘s Chief Executive Officer Ryu Young-sang, who met with his Qualcomm counterpart to discuss partnerships in the fields of metaverse and smart factories, the report added. During CES 2022, SK Telecom showcased energy-saving chip solutions run on artificial intelligence called Sapeon.
“Global collaboration is a must, not an option, amid heated competition in the global ICT industry,” Park said in a statement. “SK‘s ICT Family will take the lead in innovation through barrier-free collaboration with global companies,” he added, referring to SK hynix, SK Square and SK Telecom as ICT Family. The world‘s data centre chip market could potentially grow by $18.77 billion by 2025, according to an estimate made by Technavio last year.
In october 2021, SK hynix announced that it has become the first in the industry to successfully develop the High Bandwidth Memory 3, the world’s best-performing DRAM. Globally, there is a shortage of semiconductors as demand has shot up exponentially in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, with businesses across the world adopting digital. However, the industry has not been able to keep pace with this increase in demand, as chip-making factories were impacted by lockdowns and restrictions.
