Intel disclosed in October 2020 that it was in talks with SK Hynix to sell its memory and NAND flash storage businesses, and now, more than a year later, the first part of the deal for which Intel will earn a pretty sweet 9 billion dollars in total.

At the time, Intel committed to divest itself of its NAND flash memory business, NAND wafer and component business, and its Dalian, China-based NAND memory production plant. In exchange, the corporation will get an initial payment of $ 7 billion, enabling the shift of ownership to commence. Notably, throughout this transition, Intel will maintain certain intellectual property relating to the design and fabrication of NAND wafers. Additionally, it will continue to utilize the Dalian facilities during this process.

After this transition is complete in 2025, SK Hynix will acquire all of Intel's remaining assets, including the people responsible for NAND memory research and development, and will be responsible for the remaining $2 billion in debt. These assets will subsequently be transferred to a newly created SK Hynix subsidiary called Solidigm, which will be overseen by Robert B. Crooke, who previously served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Intel's Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group.

Intel, on the other hand, stated that it will utilize the earnings to "provide market-leading products and further its long-term growth ambitions." Thus, with this agreement with SK Hynix, the blue business exits the NAND flash memory industry, at least for the foreseeable future.