SK Hynix passes Samsung as HBM demand surges

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SK Hynix passes Samsung

Highlights

SK Hynix overtook Samsung Electronics in market value.
Its shares have risen more than 340% this year.
The company held 61% of the global HBM market in 2025.
AI demand has shifted memory chips away from commodity economics.

AI demand rewrites the ranking

SK Hynix shares rose 5.6% on Monday, lifting the company’s market value to 2,082.5 trillion won, or about $1.35 trillion, compared with 2,081.3 trillion won for Samsung Electronics, excluding preferred shares. According to Reuters, including preferred shares would increase Samsung’s market capitalization to about 2,252 trillion won.

The milestone followed a more than 340% rally in SK Hynix shares this year, driven by demand for high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, used in AI systems. The company has become a key supplier for customers including Nvidia and Alphabet’s Google, putting it at the center of the data-center investment boom.

HBM chips are stacked vertically to deliver faster performance and lower power use. That has made them critical for AI processors, where memory speed and efficiency can determine how well advanced models run. By 2025, SK Hynix held 61% of the global HBM market, ahead of Micron at 21% and Samsung at 17%.

From debt crisis to market leader

The rise marks one of South Korea’s most dramatic corporate turnarounds. In 2002, then-Hynix Semiconductor was close to being sold to Micron after a debt-heavy expansion left it under pressure. The deal collapsed, and the company remained under creditor control for nearly a decade.

Its shares fell as low as 135 won in 2003, leaving it viewed as a penny stock. Two decades later, the AI cycle has turned SK Hynix into the world’s most valuable memory chipmaker.

The recovery was not smooth. In 2023, a severe memory downturn pushed SK Hynix to an annual operating loss of 7.73 trillion won. A year later, as Microsoft, Google, Meta, and other technology companies accelerated AI spending, the company posted a then-record operating profit of 23.5 trillion won.

Samsung’s lead is no longer assured

Samsung remains a broader technology group, spanning memory, logic chips, smartphones and consumer electronics. But SK Hynix’s narrower focus has become an advantage in the HBM race.

Analysts also see pressure on Samsung’s long-held lead in DRAM. Bank of America estimates SK Hynix’s monthly DRAM output will reach about 589,000 wafers this year, compared with roughly 691,000 for Samsung. But SK Hynix is expected to expand DRAM output by about 38% from 2025 to 2028, more than twice Samsung’s projected 17.5% growth.

The result is a new competitive map for Korean technology. Samsung is still larger if preferred shares are counted, but SK Hynix has captured the market’s most valuable AI narrative.

We also reported Samsung Electronics reaches $1 trillion market capitalization.

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