TECHNOLOGY - May 24, 1995

Hyundai to Build $1.3-Billion Chip Plant: The company will become the first South Korean firm to build a factory in the United States. The plant in Eugene, Ore., will also be South Korea’s largest direct overseas investment project, Hyundai Electronics Industries Co. Chairman Chung Mong Hun said. The factory, scheduled for completion in January, 1997, will produce 16- and 64-megabit DRAMs, a type of computer memory chip. The expansion comes as demand for dynamic random access memory chips has outpaced supply for the past two years, causing steep price increases and a rush by chip makers to add capacity. South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest maker of memory chips, has said it plans to build a $1-billion plant in the United States but hasn’t disclosed a date or site. “What’s happening is these worldwide suppliers of DRAM are targeting North America,” said analyst Ronald Bohn of market research firm Dataquest Inc.