SAN JOSE, CALIF.-- December 30, 2021 -- Solidigm launches today as a standalone U.S. subsidiary of South Korean semiconductor supplier SK hynix Inc.

The new company’s origins stem from an October 2020 agreement by SK hynix to acquire Intel‘s NAND and SSD business for $9B. Already a market leader in NAND memory storage for the data center, Solidigm is now poised to become the go-to partner for customers in solid-state memory storage with SK hynix’s global presence. The company’s name, pronounced [saa-luh-dime], reflects its commitment to create a new paradigm of solid-state storage that provides unmatched customer service and revolutionizes the memory storage industry.

Headquartered in San Jose, California, Solidigm will be led by Robert (Rob) B. Crooke as CEO. Crooke was previously senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group. Crooke leads a team of senior executives with a proven track record of success in the memory storage industry. Additionally, Lee Seok-hee, president and co-CEO of SK hynix, will be appointed executive chairman of Solidigm and will lead the post-merger integration processes after the first closing.

“The establishment of Solidigm is an unprecedented opportunity to reinvent the data memory and storage industry,” said Crooke. “As a global leader of innovative NAND products and solutions, we are committed to expanding the possibilities of data that fuel human advancement - all while building a team culture that enables agility and excellence.”

With the first phase of the transaction complete, work is underway at Solidigm on a forward-moving strategy and product roadmap that will focus on growing the memory ecosystem to the benefit of customers, partners and shareholders.

A second phase of the transaction is expected to occur in or after March 2025, during which SK hynix will acquire remaining assets from Intel, including IP related to the manufacture and design of NAND flash wafers, R&D employees for NAND flash wafers, the Dalian fab workforce, and the other associated tangible/intangible assets.