SK hynix passes Samsung as South Korea's most valuable company — memory company surpasses valuation milestone on the back of HBM

SK Hynix overtook Samsung Electronics to become South Korea's most valuable listed company, marking the first time since November 2000 that Samsung has relinquished the top spot on the KOSPI index. Th... Read original →

SK hynix’s rise to South Korea’s top market cap isn’t speculative—it’s the structural consequence of HBM becoming the linchpin in AI compute stacks. The shift forces upstream EDA, TSV, and advanced packaging (like EMIB) into rapid co-evolution. Tightening U.S.-led export controls on lithography tools elevate supply chain compliance into a strategic bottleneck; SK hynix’s early ASML EUV commitments now pay off. Samsung, hamstrung by HBM3E yield issues, may resort to DDR5 price wars to shore up cash flow, eroding legacy DRAM margins further. Within 18 months, HBM4/HBM4E will define the next battleground—SK hynix’s ability to lock in NVIDIA’s Blackwell Ultra ramp could cement its role as the AI memory gatekeeper, permanently reshaping value capture in semiconductors.