Prime Highlights:
- SK Hynix beats Samsung in operating profit for the first time in 2025, marking a major milestone in South Korea’s tech sector.
- The company’s focus on high-performance memory chips, especially high-bandwidth memory (HBM), has fueled its strong growth and market lead.
Key Facts:
- SK Hynix reported an annual operating profit of 47.2 trillion won, surpassing Samsung’s 43.6 trillion won.
- The company holds an estimated 57% share of the high-bandwidth memory market, compared with Samsung’s 22%.
Background:
SK Hynix beat Samsung in operating profit for the first time in 2025, showing its strength in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for advanced processors and servers.
The South Korean memory manufacturer reported a record operating profit of 47.2 trillion won for the full year, surpassing Samsung’s 43.6 trillion won. Analysts say SK Hynix’s success comes from its specialization in memory chips, while Samsung’s diversified business, including consumer electronics and contract chip manufacturing, limits overall gains. Samsung’s memory division alone generated 24.9 trillion won in operating profits for the year.
Industry observers note that SK Hynix’s position as a leading supplier of HBM has been crucial. The company maintains a strong foothold in the high-demand AI market, with a significant portion of memory contracts from Nvidia, including the next-generation Vera Rubin products.
“SK Hynix’s quality and supply reliability in high-bandwidth memory have been key factors in its growth,” said MS Hwang, research director at Counterpoint Research. The company held an estimated 57% revenue share in the HBM market in the third quarter of 2025, compared with Samsung’s 22%, according to local industry reports.
Competition in the HBM market is increasing. Samsung has expanded its HBM sales and is preparing to launch HBM4, the latest generation of high-bandwidth memory, in 2026. Analysts expect Samsung to improve its market position with the new technology, while SK Hynix is projected to maintain a high market share.
SK Hynix also did better than Samsung in the overall DRAM market, showing its strong position in memory chips for servers, data centers, and computers.
The company’s focus on high-performance memory chips shows its growing role in tech and ongoing competition with Samsung and other global firms.
