SK Hynix breaks Alibaba's US listing record — but HBM customers will wait until 2028 for the capacity it funds - digitimes

SK Hynix's $26.5 billion Nasdaq offering has broken Alibaba's US listing record, marking a significant development in the semiconductor industry. As the world's leading high-bandwidth memory supplier,... Read original →

SK Hynix’s record $26.5B Nasdaq raise isn’t just a funding milestone—it’s a forced bet on the HBM roadmap amid brutal lead times. Technically, ramping EUV-based DRAM and advanced packaging will pressure TSMC’s CoWoS and Samsung’s I-Cube ecosystems, yet the 2028 capacity horizon leaves AI chipmakers stranded in a supply crunch through 2027. On compliance, while Korean firms currently skirt U.S. scrutiny, any escalation in U.S.-China tech tensions could expose SK’s Xi’an fab and its reliance on American tools. Competitively, Micron is leveraging CHIPS Act subsidies to lock in Arizona output, while Samsung may resort to pricing pressure to stall rivals. Over the next 12–24 months, the race to define HBM4 will determine who controls the AI memory stack—deep pockets won’t guarantee victory, but cash-strapped players are already out.