SK Hynix's leading advantage in the HBM field is rewriting the competitive landscape of South Korea's semiconductor industry. The company's 2025 operating profit surpassed that of long-time industry leader Samsung Electronics for the first time, marking a new competitive phase in the global memory chip market.
Wednesday's data showed SK Hynix's full-year 2025 operating profit reached 47.2 trillion won, exceeding the 43.6 trillion won announced by Samsung Electronics the following day. This represents the first time since SK Hynix was acquired by SK Telecom for approximately $3 billion in 2012 that it has outperformed Samsung in annual profit. Samsung's memory chip division reported a 2025 operating profit of about 24.9 trillion won.
The core driver behind this performance reversal is the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market. SK Hynix has solidified its global leadership position in this specialized chip sector for AI processors and servers, securing substantial orders from clients including NVIDIA. Counterpoint Research estimates SK Hynix captured 57% of HBM market revenue share in Q3 2025, while Samsung held just 22%.
For investors, this competition is far from over. Samsung is expanding its HBM sales and plans to begin deliveries of sixth-generation HBM4 products this year. Analysts expect SK Hynix will maintain high market share and dominance in the HBM4 market, though Samsung is anticipated to make substantial progress with the new generation products.
SK Hynix's success is built upon its technological leadership in HBM. High-bandwidth memory represents a specialized chip category used in AI processors and servers produced by companies like NVIDIA.
"SK Hynix is clearly Asia's standout 'AI winner'," stated Counterpoint Research Director MS Hwang, noting that the company's leadership in HBM and other AI server chips regarding quality and supply proves crucial during the current AI infrastructure boom phase.
SK Hynix's early positioning in the HBM market enabled it to secure the largest share of NVIDIA's memory contracts last year. According to local media reports on Wednesday, SK Hynix has already obtained over two-thirds of HBM supply orders for NVIDIA's next-generation Vera Rubin products.
SK Hynix also maintains a slight lead over Samsung in the broader DRAM market. DRAM, or dynamic random-access memory, serves as temporary data storage in computing devices including personal computers, servers, and data centers. Hwang pointed out that even as Samsung regained the top position in memory revenue rankings during Q4 2025, SK Hynix maintained its market leadership across both segments.
Competition continues to intensify. Rivals including Samsung and Micron have achieved certain breakthroughs within the HBM domain.
Samsung has expanded its HBM sales and confirmed it remains on track to commence HBM4 deliveries this year—the latest sixth-generation HBM technology. "We anticipate Samsung will achieve a significant turnaround in supplying HBM4 for NVIDIA's new products, moving beyond last year's quality issues," commented Ray Wang, a SemiAnalysis analyst specializing in memory and AI supply chains.
Nevertheless, analysts still project SK Hynix will maintain high market share and dominance in the HBM4 market. "The HBM4 race essentially pits SK Hynix against Samsung, as we consider both companies more competitive than Micron," Wang stated.
He added, "We expect SK Hynix to preserve its HBM4 leadership, while Samsung will make substantial progress, becoming more competitive in HBM4 than in previous generations."
The outcome of this technological race will directly influence the global AI chip supply chain landscape and determine future market share allocation between South Korea's two semiconductor giants. For investors betting on AI infrastructure, closely monitoring both companies' progress in HBM4 mass production and customer certification remains critically important.
