SK hynix Boosts Leading-Edge 1c DRAM Production to a Dominant Position

SK hynix is shifting much of its capacity to the latest 1c DRAM node, according to recent reports. The South Korean giant is transitioning the bulk of its memory production between nodes, and as DRAM technology advances, the company is moving its production to more advanced 10 nm-class nodes. For SK hynix, the sixth-generation 10 nm class 1c DRAM node accounted for 10% of production in Q1 2026, with an increase to about 13% in Q2. In the current third quarter, the company is expected to manufacture 24% of its DRAM on 1c, while Q4 will see more than a third (34%) produced on that node. By Q1 2027, the 1c node will account for around 35%, making the fifth-generation 10 nm-class 1b node at 33%, officially SK hynix's most dominant node.

As a reminder, DRAM nodes are not the same as conventional logic nodes. DRAM manufacturers use variations of 10 nm and scale them with more EUV layers or advanced features. For SK hynix, the currently dominant 1b node is around 12-13 nm in actual design and involves about 4 layers of EUV patterning, while the most advanced 1c node shrinks to 11-12 nm with 5-6 layers of EUV. SK hynix will use the 1c node to manufacture HBM4E, LPDDR6, and DDR5 memory. For the older 1b node, SK hynix produces DDR5, LPDDR5X, HBM3E, and HBM4. Read full story