South Korea\'s SK Hynix said Wednesday it would buy a US-based IT firm for $248 million to strengthen the performance of its flash memory devices, used in smartphones and tablet computers. The firm said it would acquire Link_A_Media Devices Corp, a California-based company founded in 2004 which develops \"controller\" devices. These interlock with processors to help increase the speed and reliability of NAND flash memory. SK Hynix expects its competitiveness to be further strengthened by the acquisition of the US firm, \"which has extensive expertise in controller technology and excellent engineering resources\", said CEO O.C. Kwon in a statement.