SK Hynix surpasses Samsung Electronics in market capitalization and becomes South Korea's market capitalization king

SK Group President Cui Taiyuan met with TSMC Chairman Wei Zhejia in June 2024. (Extracted from SK Group website)

[Compiled by Wei Guojin/Taipei Report] SK Hynix surpassed Samsung Electronics on the 22nd and became the largest listed company in South Korea by market value. This dramatic reversal marks the company that was on the verge of bankruptcy more than 20 years ago. It has turned around its fortunes by becoming a major supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM). Among them, the most eye-catching is that the company has formed an alliance with TSMC and was the first to obtain Huida's certification of the sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory HBM4, thus consolidating its leading position in the HBM field.

SK Hynix closed up 5.6% on the 22nd, with its share price at 2.919 million won (NT$60,000) and a market value of 2080.4 trillion won (NT$42.82 trillion). Samsung excluded preferred shares and its stock price fell by 0.14%, with a market value of 2066.7 trillion won (NT$42.54 trillion).

SK Hynix mainly produces memory. In addition to memory, Samsung also produces logic chips and consumer electronics such as smartphones and TVs. Since 2000, Samsung has been South Korea's largest company by market value. However, the artificial intelligence (AI) boom has changed the landscape of the semiconductor industry. As HBM's largest supplier, SK Hynix's stock price has risen by more than 340% this year, making it one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI ​​boom.

The rise of SK Hynix is ​​the most talked-about legend in the history of South Korean companies. In 2002, Hynix Semiconductor was heavily in debt and on the verge of bankruptcy due to over-expansion. It almost sold Micron Technology, but the deal ultimately fell apart, leaving creditors in control of the company for nearly a decade.

In 2003, its stock price fell to a low of 135 won (NT$2.8) and became a "penny stock", also known as an "egg dumpling stock." Since then, the company's fate has been closely intertwined with the boom and bust of the global semiconductor industry. In 2023, weak demand and excessive inventory hit memory prices hard, causing SK Hynix to lose 7.73 trillion won in revenue that year.

The following year, the AI ​​boom was gaining momentum. Microsoft, Google and Meta invested heavily. SK Hynix began to recover and set a record annual profit of 23.5 trillion won.

Analysts attribute SK Hynix's core position in the global AI ecosystem to its decision to continue investing in HBM. In 2024, the company formed a strategic alliance with TSMC to cooperate in the development of HBM4 to compete with Samsung Electronics for HBM's leadership position.

By 2025, SK Hynix will account for 61% of the HBM global market, significantly ahead of Samsung's 17% and Micron's 21%. Regarding the HBM4 market, analysts expect that SK Hynix will capture 50% to 70% of the market share due to its earliest launch, and will successfully capture the majority of HBM4 orders for Huida's next-generation Rubin platform.

Hynix Semiconductor, established in 1983, was originally a subsidiary of Hyundai Group. It was later spun off, acquired by SK Group in 2012, and renamed SK Hynix.