Damages at SK Hynix DRAM Plant More Serious Than Expected.

[Nicktrance]

While Hynix did say last week that there wasn't any serious damage to the manufacturing equipment resulting from the fire, it seems that while the manufacturing tools themselves weren't harmed a lot of the equipment has been damaged and it's going to take months before shipments can resume.

 

 

The accident happened due to the chemical vapour deposition (CVD) machinery found in the Hynix Fab complex and has resulted in some destroyed equipment contamination of the clean rooms and damage in wafer production lines.

 

Luckily the plant makes use of a special "Gemini" architecture where clean rooms and other facilities operate independently so a certain percentage of the total production capacity can still operate.

 

It is still uncertain when some parts of the fab can be completely restored but sources with close knowledge of semiconductor equipment have indicated that it could take as long as three-six months to completely recover. Right now hundreds of professionals and engineers are visiting the plant to try to facilitate the process.

 

Even if production temporarily resumes, the clean up procedures, examintaion of clean rooms and machinery and reconfiguration of manufacturing settings are expected to limit the number of wafers produced for the next two months at roughly 260,000 worth of wafer production.

 

Source: http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/memory/display/20130913230141_Damages_at_SK_Hynix_DRAM_Plant_More_Series_Than_Expected.html

[qwertywarrior]

thank you Nicktrance for the info

this is a very interesting subject

 

more specifically about a handful of factories making certain parts

 

remember the floods in Thailand

hard drive prices went through the roof

supplies were limited

 

it seems like if just 2 factories went ablaze there would be a huge shortage

 

what are your thoughts on this

[Flojer0]

Not that I hope the damage was serious, but I did buy some ram since I could see my wife needing more in the next year. I almost would feel a little let down if there wasn't any repercussions, but it would be better for everyone if they recovered quickly.

[Common_Courtesy]

Great, things are about to get more expensive.

[Mooshi]

If I wasn't reserving the 12GB of Corsair Dominator GT for a future build for my girlfriend, I'd toss it up on ebay to support the cause. Now I feel spoiled being able to pick up a high performance 16GB kit for $116 at the beginning of the year.