Intel to sell NAND memory chip unit to South Korea's SK Hynix for $9 billion

Intel agreed to sell its NAND memory chip unit, including a China production factory, to South Korea's SK Hynix for $9 billion in cash.

Why it matters: This would make SK Hynix the world's second-largest NAND chipmaker, behind only Samsung. It also gets Intel mostly out of the memory chip market, which is where it got its start.

• Financials: The business generated around $2.8 billion in revenue for the first half of 2020, whereas Intel's entire memory chip revenue was around $3 billion.

The bottom line: "The move marks the latest effort by the U.S. chip giant to divest its non-core businesses, move away from the volatile commodity NAND chip industry and focus on its remaining Optane memory business, which is smaller but more lucrative because it taps more advanced technology." per Reuters.