Intel is quietly hunting for a partner to help run its Ohio One semiconductor campus, and South Korean memory giant SK Hynix has emerged as a leading candidate — for an operating deal rather than an outright acquisition, according to reporting from Semafor on July 22 and Korea's JoongAng Daily. The two firms have not yet started formal negotiations, and one person close to Intel described the interest as "very early."
Ownership Stays With Intel, For Now
SK Hynix on Tuesday formally denied it is negotiating to buy the Ohio campus after JoongAng reported an acquisition was in play. What both sides confirm is a joint operating arrangement under review — Intel would retain ownership while SK Hynix would run at least part of the site to produce leading-edge DRAM. That structure preserves Intel's leverage with the US government, which took a strategic stake in the chipmaker last year, while giving SK Hynix a US memory foothold.
Ohio One Slipped To 2030 — And Apple Is Watching
Intel broke ground on the Ohio facility in 2022 with a planned $28B investment and originally targeted a 2025 start. After layoffs and repeated delays, the opening slid to 2030. Meanwhile Apple CEO Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal that supply constraints and price hikes from memory suppliers including SK Hynix had "become unsustainable" for the iPhone maker — sharpening the case for more US DRAM capacity.
Part Of A Wider Intel Pivot
Since Washington's equity stake, Intel has stitched together an unusual roster of deals with rivals and customers. The Ohio conversation lands alongside the just-announced Intel Q2 2026 update and the Samsung Onyang HBM expansion, extending a summer of memory-supply repositioning across the industry. If SK Hynix signs on, it would give Ohio the operational muscle to catch up to Micron and Samsung's expanding US footprint.
Reporting based on coverage from Semafor, JoongAng Daily, DIGITIMES and TrendForce.