The world's second-biggest memory chipmaker joined other technology companies including bigger rival Samsung in flagging chip demand growth coupled with lingering supply chain snarls in 2022, as it forecast strong memory chip demand from data centres and other server clients.

"The long-term outlook for high-performance memory products, including server products ... is highly positive," SK Hynix said in an earnings briefing on Friday.

"Demand is rising due to factors such as the exploration of non-face-to-face infrastructure build-up, dissemination of AI (artificial intelligence) machine learning, and emergence of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and metaverse as new applications."

In NAND flash memory chips that serve the data storage market, SK Hynix last month completed the first phase of its acquisition of Intel’s NAND business. With that acquisition, SK Hynix expects

NAND flash sales to double this year from last, it said.

SK Hynix said 2022 capital expenditure will increase versus 2021's $11.12 billion, mostly due to large construction and infrastructure investment such as the purchase of a future chip factory site in South Korea and a research-and-development centre in the United States.

The chipmaker reported 4.2 trillion won in October-December profit, its highest quarterly profit since 2018 and up from 959 billion won a year earlier.