SK Hynix aims to lock in all 2026 HBM orders by mid-2025

SK Hynix Inc., the world’s largest supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM), aims to lock in orders for its entire 2026 HBM output by the end of June, its chief executive said on Thursday.

“We will finalize discussions with customers about next year’s HBM supply volume within the first half of this year to further enhance revenue stability,” its CEO Kwak Noh-jung told shareholders at its annual general meeting.

The South Korean chipmaker has already sold out its planned HBM output for this year and is shipping 12-layer HBM3E, its flagship HBM product, to Nvidia Corp. and other customers.

“Given the high investment costs and long production periods for HBM products, we are increasing sales visibility by securing orders through advance volume agreements with customers,” he added.

His remarks came after SK Hynix delivered samples of its 12-layer HBM4, a next-generation AI memory, to its key customers ahead of schedule. It aims to become the world’s first to supply the sixth-generation HBM with mass production slated for the second half of this year.

ROBUST OUTLOOK

Kwak shrugged off concerns that the rise of low-cost Chinese AI models like DeepSeek could dampen demand for HBM, particularly the upcoming HBM4. He said such AI models would ultimately support AI memory demand in the medium to long term.

“We don’t expect a decline in HBM demand,” Kwak said during the shareholder meeting. "Both HBM3E and HBM4 are built on the same DRAM platform, allowing the company to adjust production flexibly based on market needs."

He forecast the HBM market to expand more than 8.8 times this year compared with 2023 as the adoption of graphics processing units and custom application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) accelerates amid the intensifying AI war.

Demand for enterprise solid-state drives -- another key AI memory product -- is projected to grow 3.5 times over the same period, he added.

SOCAMM

SK Hynix is also in discussions with major customers to supply SOCAMM, a low-power double data rate (LPDDR)-based memory module optimized for data center servers, as its demand is expected to rise.

“We’re developing (SOCAMM) to mass-produce them this year,” said Kwak.

In 2024, SK Hynix posted its largest-ever operating profit of 23.47 trillion won on revenue of 66.19 trillion won, fueled by strong demand for HBM, which accounts for about half of its sales.

Write to Subin Park at waterbean@hankyung.com
 


Yeonhee Kim edited this article.