SK hynix exports of SSDs rose 84% in 1H 2024: big increases for AI data centers

SK hynix has announced its SSD export volume from its M15 production line located in Cheongju, Chungbuk, where SK hynix makes its NAND flash and SSDs, has increased 84% in 1H 2024 compared to 1H 2023.

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The South Korean semiconductor manufacturing giant exported around $501 million in SSDs in the first half of 2024, compared to $272 million in the first half of 2023, driven largely by AI demand and data centers' need for more and faster SSDs.

Kim Woo-hyun, SK Hynix's Chief Financial Officer (CFO) said: "We are currently expanding sales of high-capacity enterprise SSDs in response to increasing demand, and to this end, we are increasing the utilization rate of some NAND plants".

In a new report from Business Korea, the outlet points to the Korea Trade Statistics Information Portal (TRASS) on July 29, where a 'significant improvement" in SSD exports is attributed to the huge increase in demand for storage devices in AI.

AI data centers are popping up and moving into development across the world, with SSDs prioritized because of their superior capacity and power efficiency compared to mechanical HDDs. This new trend has pushed SK hynix to gradually increase production capacity to expand SSD production, after it had cut production in 2023.