SK Hynix is one of the world's largest semiconductor companies
Jung Young Jae
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South Korean semiconductor giant SK Hynix announced on Friday that all 2024 production of its high-end memory chips has been sold out and most of next year's line is gone, reflecting huge demand for cutting-edge AI hardware.
SK Hynix is the world's second-largest memory chip manufacturer and dominates the market for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips. The company is Nvidia's top supplier, which controls about 80% of the global artificial intelligence chip market.
The company told AFP on Friday that HBM chips from 2024 onwards are completely sold out.
Chief Executive Officer Kwak No-jung said at a press conference Thursday that the increased use of AI devices will lead to “an explosive increase in demand for high-speed, high-capacity, low-power memory chips specialized for AI. ” he said.
As demand grows, AI hardware components such as HBM chips will account for 61% of the company's chip production, up from just 5% in 2023, said Justin Kim, head of AI infrastructure at SK Hynix. is expected to increase.
SK Hynix also announced this week that it will begin mass production of its top-of-the-line 5th generation HBM chips in the third quarter.
In April, the company announced that it would collaborate with Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC to manufacture next-generation HBM chips. TSMC also supplies his Nvidia.
Thanks to strong sales of AI hardware components such as HBM chips, SK Hynix recorded its second-highest operating profit in the first quarter of this year, at 2.9 trillion won ($2.1 billion).
Micron, another Nvidia supplier, announced in March that it had sold out of its 2024 HBM supply and had also allocated the “vast majority” of its 2025 production.
