TLDR
- SK Hynix chairman Chey Tae-won announced plans to double wafer capacity over the next five years at Computex in Taipei.
- The company holds a 58% share of the global HBM market, with Samsung and Micron each at 21%.
- SK Hynix crossed a $1 trillion market cap for the first time last week.
- Goldman Sachs raised its 2028 operating profit forecast for SK Hynix by 24% to 454 trillion won (~$299.62 billion).
- Chey warned that sudden price jumps in DRAM and HBM chips could hurt the long-term sustainability of the AI ecosystem.
SK Hynix is going big. The South Korean chipmaker’s parent, SK Group, confirmed Tuesday that it plans to double wafer production capacity over the next five years as AI demand continues to push memory chips to the center of the tech industry.
Chairman Chey Tae-won made the announcement at Computex in Taipei, one of the biggest annual gatherings for semiconductor and tech executives. Nvidia, one of SK Hynix’s most important customers, was also represented at the event.
“We are going to double the whole capacity over the next five years,” Chey told reporters. “There are a lot of obstacles and hurdles, but we will get over them and expand.”
It’s an ambitious target, but the demand picture is clearly there. AI workloads are consuming more high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips than ever, and SK Hynix is the world’s biggest supplier of them.
The company held a 58% share of the global HBM market in Q1 2026, according to Counterpoint Research. Samsung and Micron each held 21%.
SK Hynix crossed the $1 trillion market cap mark for the first time last week, joining Samsung and Micron in reaching that milestone. The rally has been driven largely by investor optimism around AI and the ongoing demand for advanced memory.
Chey also reiterated an earlier warning: global chip wafer supply bottlenecks could persist through 2030. That forecast, first made in March, underlines why the company is moving to scale production now.
Competing for Nvidia’s Next Platform
Chey made clear that SK Hynix wants to play a major role in supplying HBM chips for Nvidia’s upcoming Vera Rubin AI system. “There’s only one customer for HBM4E right now,” he said, in a direct reference to Nvidia.
He added that SK Hynix needs to build more partnerships in Taiwan beyond its existing relationship with TSMC. That signals the company is looking to deepen its footprint in the island’s wider semiconductor ecosystem as it scales up.
Samsung also made moves at Computex on Tuesday, unveiling a mock-up of its HBM5 chip and announcing its new thermal management technology for the product. Last week, Samsung said it had begun shipping samples of its HBM4E chip to customers — a step ahead of rivals in distributing that product.
Goldman Raises Forecasts
Wall Street is taking note. Goldman Sachs recently raised its 2028 operating profit forecast for SK Hynix by 24%, lifting its estimate to 454 trillion won, or around $299.62 billion. Samsung’s forecast was raised by 23.3% to 610 trillion won.
Both upgrades were driven by expectations of sustained AI-related demand for memory chips.
Despite the bullish tone, Chey struck a careful note on pricing. He said excessive price increases in DRAM and HBM could ultimately damage the broader AI ecosystem and undermine long-term growth.
“The whole AI industry needs more sustainability,” he said. “Sudden jumps in prices can become a problem and actually hurt sustainability.”
Goldman Sachs’ revised 2028 operating profit forecast for SK Hynix stands at 454 trillion won (~$299.62 billion).
🚨 Our MAY Stock Picks Are Live!
A new month means new opportunities. Our analysts have just released their top stock picks for May, highlighting companies with strong momentum that rank highly on our KO Score algorithm. We’re also now sharing trade ideas for both long-term and short-term investors, giving you more ways to spot potential opportunities in the market.
Sign up to Knockout Stocks today and get 50% off to unlock the full list and see which stocks made the cut.
Use coupon code Special50 for your exclusive discount!
Get 3 Free Stock Ebooks
Discover top-performing stocks in AI, Crypto, and Technology with expert analysis.
- Top 10 AI Stocks - Leading AI companies
- Top 10 Crypto Stocks - Blockchain leaders
- Top 10 Tech Stocks - Tech giants
