SK Hynix overtakes Samsung as South Korea’s most valuable company, thanks to memory
SK Hynix has overtaken Samsung Electronics to become South Korea’s most valuable listed company, completing a remarkable turnaround for a chipmaker that was once on the brink of collapse.
The memory chip giant, which is now the leading supplier of high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI systems, saw its market value edge past Samsung after its shares surged 5.6% on Monday. HBM chips are a critical component in AI accelerators used by companies such as Nvidia, Google and other major cloud providers.
The rise highlights how the AI boom is reshaping the semiconductor industry. While memory chips were once largely viewed as interchangeable commodities, specialised AI-focused memory has become a key part of the infrastructure powering your AI tools such as ChatGPT and other AI models.
HBM chips in particular stack memory vertically to deliver higher bandwidth and lower power consumption, making them ideal for AI workloads. More importantly, they are tightly integrated with AI processors, creating higher barriers to entry and allowing suppliers like themselves to command stronger margins.
Unlike Samsung, which has a broad portfolio spanning smartphones, TVs, logic chips and memory, SK Hynix is heavily focused on memory semiconductors. Analysts estimate that SK Hynix controlled about 61% of the global HBM market in 2025, significantly ahead of Samsung’s 17% share and Micron’s 21%.
The achievement is especially notable given SK Hynix’s history. In the early 2000s, then known as Hynix Semiconductor, the company was struggling under heavy debt and nearly ended up sold to Micron. The deal eventually fell through, and they ended up under creditor control. SK Hynix then got hit by the memory downturn in 2023, with an operating loss of KRW7.73 trillion.
However, as AI investments accelerated across the industry, they would end up rebounding hard, with a record operating profit of KRW23.5 trillion in 2024. Most analysts credit this to their move towards HBM technology during the downturn as a key reason for its current leadership position. The rumour mill suggests that SK Hynix is set for a US listing on the Nasdaq too, giving them even more recognition on the global stage.
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