Hynix Semiconductor will reduce planned capital spending at its Korean fabs and at its 300mm fab in Wuxi, China, part of the JV facility with Numonyx. Reuters said that Hynix had made a filing to the Korea Exchange detailing the changes. A US$491 million downward revision to spending had been made for 2008 with a push out of a US$260 million investment in Wuxi, to sometime in 2009. Hynix Semiconductor had reported earlier in the year a capital spending reduction of approximately US$1 billion due to poor pricing of NAND and DRAM memory devices as overcapacity remains in the market.
Later in 2008, Hynix announced sweeping closures of 200mm fabs though had started production at its newest 300mm fab, M11 in the third quarter, planning a US$2 billion investment to ramp NAND flash capacity at the facility, while shuttering uncompetitive 200mm facilities as ASP price erosion topped 60% per annum.
Capital spending in the first-half of the year was noted to be on target with Hynix stating hat reductions were due in the second-half of 2008. The news indicates that spending at M11 may have been reduced, while it is clear that the planned Wuxi spending has now been delayed.