A person walks previous a emblem of SK Hynix on the foyer of the corporate’s Bundang workplace in Seongnam on January 29, 2021.
Jung Yeon-Je | AFP | Getty Photographs
South Korean reminiscence chipmaker SK Hynix mentioned Friday that it was able to mass produce its next-generation high-bandwidth reminiscence chips, staying forward of rivals, and sending the corporate’s inventory hovering.
HBM is a kind of reminiscence that’s utilized in chipsets for artificial-intelligence computing, together with in chips from world AI big Nvidia — a significant consumer of SK Hynix.
SK Hynix mentioned earlier this 12 months that it had shipped samples of its HBM4 chips to prospects, because it sought to beat opponents together with Samsung Electronics and Micron Applied sciences.
In response to its announcement Friday, the corporate has completed its inside validation and high quality assurance course of for HBM4 and is able to manufacture these at scale.
“Completion of HBM4 growth will likely be a brand new milestone for the trade,” mentioned Joohwan Cho, head of HBM growth at SK Hynix.
HBM4 is the sixth era of HBM expertise — a kind of Dynamic Random Entry Reminiscence, or DRAM. DRAM might be present in private computer systems, workstations and servers and is used to retailer knowledge and program code.
SK Hynix’s newest HBM4 product has doubled bandwidth and elevated energy effectivity by 40% in comparison with the earlier era, in keeping with the corporate.
Notably, HBM4 is predicted to be the primary AI reminiscence chip wanted for Nvidia’s next-generation Rubin structure — a extra highly effective AI chip for world knowledge facilities — mentioned Dan Nystedt, vice-president at TriOrient, an Asia-based personal funding agency with a give attention to semiconductors.
“SK Hynix is a key provider for Nvidia, and the announcement reveals it stays far forward of rivals,” he mentioned.
Samsung Electronics and Micron have struggled to catch as much as SK Hynix in HBM, because it builds on its section management and advantages from being Nvidia’s primary HBM provider.
Nonetheless, the businesses have made some progress. Micron has additionally shipped samples of its HBM4 merchandise to prospects, whereas Samsung has reportedly been working to get its HBM4 chips licensed by Nvidia.
“Regardless of the shifting aggressive panorama, we anticipate SK Hynix will keep a commanding place, probably securing round 50% of the HBM market share by 2026,” mentioned MS Hwang, analysis director at Counterpoint Analysis, overlaying reminiscence options.
SK Hynix shares rose greater than 7% Friday to hit their highest since 2000, following its chip announcement, bringing year-to-date good points to just about 90%. Shares of Samsung Electronics and Micron have risen over 40% and almost 80% in 2025, respectively.
SK Hynix posted report working revenue and income for its June-quarter, because of sturdy HBM demand, which accounted for 77% of its total revenues.
The corporate expects to double HBM gross sales for the complete 12 months in comparison with 2024, and for demand from AI to proceed to develop into 2026.
