The outbreak of HBM reshaped the semiconductor industry, and SK Hynix’s annual profit surpassed Samsung’s for the first time

# Source: Wall Street Insights

By Xu Chao

A Historic Reversal! SK Hynix's Annual Profit Hits 47.2 Trillion KRW, Surpassing Samsung for the First Time. With a 57% Share in HBM Memory and Nvidia Orders, It Becomes the Biggest Winner in AI Memory Chips. Samsung Bets on HBM4 for a Counterattack, and the Tech Race Between the Two Giants Will Reshape the Global AI Supply Chain and Define the Future Landscape of South Korea's Semiconductor Industry.

SK Hynix's leading edge in the HBM sector is rewriting the competitive landscape of South Korea's semiconductor industry. The company's 2025 operating profit surpassed long-time industry leader Samsung Electronics for the first time, marking a new phase of competition in the global memory chip market.

Data released on Wednesday showed that SK Hynix's full-year 2025 operating profit reached 47.2 trillion South Korean won, exceeding Samsung Electronics' 43.6 trillion KRW announced the following day. This is the first time SK Hynix has overtaken Samsung in annual profit since it was acquired by SK Telecom for approximately $3 billion in 2012. The operating profit of Samsung's memory chip division in 2025 stood at about 24.9 trillion KRW.

The core driver of this earnings reversal is the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market. SK Hynix has consolidated its global leadership in this specialized chip sector for AI processors and servers, securing a large number of orders from customers such as Nvidia. Counterpoint Research estimates that SK Hynix held a 57% revenue share in the HBM market in the third quarter of 2025, compared with Samsung's mere 22%.

For investors, this competition is far from over. Samsung is scaling up HBM sales and plans to start shipping the 6th-generation HBM4 products this year. Analysts expect SK Hynix to maintain a high share and dominant position in the HBM4 market, while Samsung is poised to make substantial progress in the new-generation products.

## The AI Infrastructure Boom Spawns a New Winner

SK Hynix's success is built on its technological leadership in HBM. High-bandwidth memory is a specialized chip used in AI processors and servers produced by companies like Nvidia.

"SK Hynix is clearly a standout 'AI winner' in Asia," said MS Hwang, Research Director at Counterpoint Research. The company's lead in the quality and supply of HBM and other AI server chips is crucial in the current era of the AI infrastructure boom.

SK Hynix made an early layout in the HBM market and captured the largest share of Nvidia's memory contracts last year. According to local media reports on Wednesday, SK Hynix has secured more than two-thirds of the HBM supply orders for Nvidia's next-generation Vera Rubin products.

SK Hynix also holds a slight lead over Samsung in the broader DRAM market. Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) is used for temporary data storage in computing devices such as personal computers, servers and data centers. Hwang pointed out that even though Samsung reclaimed the top spot in memory revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025, SK Hynix has maintained market leadership in both these sectors.

## Samsung Seeks a Breakthrough with New-Generation Products

Competition is heating up. Rivals such as Samsung and Micron have made some breakthroughs in the HBM field.

Samsung has expanded its HBM sales and stated that it will start shipping HBM4 products as planned this year—the latest 6th-generation HBM technology. Ray Wang, an analyst at SemiAnalysis focusing on memory and AI supply chains, said: "We expect Samsung to make a significant turnaround in supplying HBM4 for Nvidia's new products, moving past the quality issues it faced last year."

Nevertheless, analysts still project that SK Hynix will maintain a high share and dominant position in the HBM4 market. "The HBM4 race is really a contest between SK Hynix and Samsung, as we view these two companies as more competitive than Micron," Wang noted.

He added: "We expect SK Hynix to retain its lead in HBM4, while Samsung will make substantial progress and become more competitive in HBM4 than in previous generations of products."

The outcome of this technological race will directly impact the structure of the global AI chip supply chain and determine the future market share distribution between South Korea's two semiconductor giants. For investors betting on AI infrastructure, it is crucial to closely monitor the progress of both companies in HBM4 mass production and customer certification.

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