Fourteen years after a takeover that critics dismissed as a costly gamble, SK Hynix has emerged as the biggest beneficiary of the artificial intelligence boom, overtaking Samsung Electronics to briefly become South Korea’s most valuable listed company, according to a Reuters report.The turnaround was driven by an early bet on high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a technology once considered a niche product but now essential for AI servers powering applications such as ChatGPT.SK Group acquired Hynix Semiconductor in 2012 in a deal that drew scepticism because Samsung was then worth more than 10 times SK Hynix and dominated the global DRAM market used in computers and smartphones.Seeking to differentiate itself, SK Hynix focused on HBM chips, which transfer data at much higher speeds than conventional memory.The company launched the world’s first HBM chip with AMD in 2014 but struggled with its second-generation products, allowing Samsung to regain the lead in the late 2010s.According to Reuters, the setbacks sparked internal discussions on whether to abandon HBM altogether.Instead, the company chose to invest even more aggressively, expanding production capacity and redesigning its technology in anticipation of growing demand from Nvidia, then primarily known for graphics processors.“It was a headache back in 2019,” Shim Dae-yong told Reuters, who led HBM development at SK Hynix. “It was obsolete.”
ChatGPT changed everything
The turning point came in late 2022 when OpenAI’s ChatGPT triggered a global AI investment boom.Demand for HBM chips surged as Nvidia’s AI accelerators became the preferred hardware for training and running artificial intelligence models, making SK Hynix Nvidia’s biggest HBM supplier.“No one expected the HBM market would post such explosive growth,” Shim said. “But we were ready in terms of performance and capacity.”Reuters reported that the investment initially appeared misplaced after demand from Nvidia and cryptocurrency miners weakened in 2019, leaving a newly built packaging facility underutilised.
A company rebuilt after years of crises
Founded in 1983 as Hyundai Electronics, the company survived multiple crises before becoming part of SK Group.It narrowly avoided bankruptcy in 2001 after a collapse in memory chip prices and was rescued by creditor banks. Several attempts to sell the company, including to Micron Technology in 2002, failed before SK Group completed its acquisition a decade later.The purchase also attracted criticism from credit rating agencies because of the semiconductor industry’s cyclical nature and heavy capital investment requirements.Explaining the strategy in a book published earlier this year, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said:“What I really wanted to accomplish when we acquired Hynix was to transform it from a commodity memory producer into a mainstream semiconductor company whose products are indispensable.”Former HR executive Hyun Sun-yeop said the company’s status as an underdog shaped its strategy.“We believed that it would be impossible to overcome Samsung in commodity DRAM products,” he said. “We were desperate to change the market dynamics. We needed a breakthrough.”
HBM reshapes the semiconductor race
The company’s HBM strategy also helped it recover faster than Samsung after the global memory downturn.Although SK Hynix posted an operating loss of 7.73 trillion won in 2023, it rebounded with a record operating profit in 2024 and briefly became the world’s largest DRAM maker in 2025.“No one would ever have imagined that SK Hynix would overtake Samsung,” said Shin Jae-yong, a business administration professor at Seoul National University, Reuters quoted.“It is almost impossible for a runner-up to catch up with the market leader in this capital-intensive industry, which requires massive investment. HBM was the powerful driver behind how they turned the tables.”
AI success drives fresh expansion
SK Hynix’s success has boosted South Korea’s stock market and economy, with the company announcing plans to raise up to 45.45 trillion won (USD 29.43 billion) through the listing of American depositary receipts in July to expand production capacity and widen its investor base.According to Reuters, the company’s shares have surged more than 340% this year, reflecting investor optimism over sustained AI-driven demand for advanced memory chips.Although Samsung regained the top spot by market value after its shares rallied on reports of possible share buybacks, Reuters noted that SK Hynix’s rise underscores how the AI boom has reshaped the global semiconductor industry and upended long-held market leadership.
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