2012: SK Group acquired Hynix; Samsung's market value was more than ten times
Hynix and it led global DRAM. SK Hynix targeted HBM (high-bandwidth memory),
launching the world’s first HBM product in 2014 but suffering a setback on
second‑generation chips that left it behind Samsung and prompted internal debate
about halting R&D. The company nonetheless ramped R&D and capacity, betting on
growing NVIDIA demand, and invested 880 bln won (about $640m) in a packaging
plant and related assets that were underutilized after demand fell in 2019. The
bet paid off after 2022: ChatGPT-driven AI demand sharply increased global need
for HBM, which is a key component of NVIDIA data‑center AI accelerators, and SK
Hynix is now a major HBM supplier to NVIDIA.
