SK Hynix surpasses $1T market value amid AI chip boom - Crypto Briefing

SK Hynix, a South Korean memory chipmaker, crossed the $1 trillion market capitalization mark in late May 2026, becoming the second South Korean company to reach this milestone after Samsung Electroni... Read original →

SK Hynix’s trillion-dollar valuation reflects not just AI-driven HBM demand but the sector’s dangerous overreliance on a single memory architecture. Technologically, HBM3E/HBM4 stacking intensifies pressure on TSV yields and accelerates EUV adoption in DRAM—forcing NVIDIA to co-design GPUs around memory bandwidth. Geopolitically, U.S. export controls on advanced packaging could disrupt supply chains tied to Taiwan, China’s CoWoS capacity. Samsung will leverage its 3nm GAA logic leadership to vertically integrate HBM, while Micron pushes CXL-based alternatives to bypass HBM IP dominance. Within 18 months, if hyperscalers curb AI capex due to soaring training costs or HBM cost-per-bit stalls, SK Hynix’s premium will evaporate. Memory remains cyclical—AI hype won’t rewrite that reality.