Viewing source: SK hynix

You are not logged in. You can view the source, but editing requires logging in.
{| cellpadding="7" style="max-width: 400px; width: 100%; border: 2px solid #ee7609; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 0.9em; float: left;"
|-
| colspan="2" style="background: #ee7609; text-align: center; padding: 10px 8px 12px 8px; border-bottom: 2px solid #ee7609;" |
<div style="color: #ffffff; font-weight: bold; font-size: 1.4em; margin: 3px 0 1px 0;">SK hynix Inc.</div>
<div style="color: #ffffff; font-size: 0.92em;">SK하이닉스 주식회사</div>
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align: center; padding: 0;" | ![[skhynix-logo.svg|380px|alt=The SK hynix wordmark]]
|- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #fdeecc;"
! scope="row" style="color: #ee7609; text-align: center; width: 36%;" | Formerly
| Hyundai Electronics (1983–2001)<br>Hynix Semiconductor (2001–2012)<ref name="hist">"History." ''SK hynix'' (official). [https://www.skhynix.com/company/UI-FR-CP05/ skhynix.com/company]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
|- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #fdeecc;"
! scope="row" style="color: #ee7609; text-align: center;" | Type
| Public company<ref name="424b4">SK hynix Inc., Form 424B4 (final prospectus), filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, July 9, 2026. [https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2120882/000119312526299963/d32785d424b4.htm sec.gov]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
|- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #fdeecc;"
! scope="row" style="color: #ee7609; text-align: center;" | Traded as
| KRX: 000660<br>Nasdaq: SKHY (American depositary shares)<ref name="424b4" />
|- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #fdeecc;"
! scope="row" style="color: #ee7609; text-align: center;" | Founded
| February 1983, as Hyundai Electronics<ref name="hist" />
|- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #fdeecc;"
! scope="row" style="color: #ee7609; text-align: center;" | Headquarters
| Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea<ref name="about">"About Us." ''SK hynix'' (official). [https://www.skhynix.com/company/UI-FR-CP02/ skhynix.com/company]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
|- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #fdeecc;"
! scope="row" style="color: #ee7609; text-align: center;" | Industry
| Semiconductors<ref name="about" />
|- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #fdeecc;"
! scope="row" style="color: #ee7609; text-align: center;" | Products
| DRAM<br>NAND flash memory<br>High Bandwidth Memory<br>Solid-state drives<ref name="about" />
|- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #fdeecc;"
! scope="row" style="color: #ee7609; text-align: center;" | Key people
| Kwak Noh-Jung (President and CEO)<ref name="f6">SK hynix Inc., Form F-6 registration statement, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, July 1, 2026. [https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2120882/000119380526000898/e665622_f6-skhynix.htm sec.gov]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><br>Ko Seung-Beom (Chair of the board)<ref name="board">"Corporate Governance — Board of Directors." ''SK hynix'' (official). [https://www.skhynix.com/sustainability/UI-FR-SA1502/ skhynix.com/sustainability]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
|- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #fdeecc;"
! scope="row" style="color: #ee7609; text-align: center;" | Revenue
| ₩97.15 trillion (FY2025)<ref name="fy25">"SK hynix Announces FY25 Financial Results." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), January 28, 2026. [https://news.skhynix.com/en/sk-hynix-announces-fy25-financial-results/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
|- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #fdeecc;"
! scope="row" style="color: #ee7609; text-align: center;" | Operating profit
| ₩47.21 trillion (FY2025)<ref name="fy25" />
|- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #fdeecc;"
! scope="row" style="color: #ee7609; text-align: center;" | Employees
| 46,863 (2024)<ref name="factsheet">"SK hynix Fact Sheet." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official). [https://news.skhynix.com/corporate/fact-sheet/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
|- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #fdeecc;"
! scope="row" style="color: #ee7609; text-align: center;" | Parent
| [[SK Square]] (20.5%), part of [[SK Group]]<ref name="ir">"Shareholder Status." ''SK hynix Investor Relations'' (official). [https://www.skhynix.com/ir/UI-FR-IR04/ skhynix.com/ir]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
|-
! scope="row" style="color: #ee7609; text-align: center;" | Subsidiaries
| [[Solidigm]]<br>SK keyfoundry<br>SK hynix system ic<ref name="hist" />
|}

{|class="wikitable" style="max-width: 400px; width: 100%; border: 2px solid #ee7609; float: right"
|-
!style="background-color: #ee7609; color: #fff;"|Headquarters
|-
|style="padding: 0;"|![[skhynix-icheon-hq.jpg|alt=Aerial view of the SK hynix Icheon campus, showing the fab buildings with the company wordmark painted on their roofs]]
|-
|style="text-align: center; padding: 2px 6px 6px 6px;"|<div style="color: #666; font-size: 0.82em;">The Icheon campus in Gyeonggi Province — the company's original 1983 site and its headquarters</div>
|-
|style="padding: 0;"|{{Googlemap|place="SK hynix Icheon Campus, Icheon, South Korea"}}
|-
!style="background-color: #ee7609; color: #fff;"|Official links
|-
|style="text-align: center; font-size: 0.9em;"|[https://www.skhynix.com/ Homepage]<br>[https://news.skhynix.com/ Newsroom]<br>[https://product.skhynix.com/ Products &amp; Solutions]<br>[https://www.youtube.com/@SKhynix YouTube]<br>[https://www.instagram.com/skhynix_official/ Instagram]<br>[https://www.linkedin.com/company/sk-hynix/ LinkedIn]<ref name="footer">"SK hynix." ''SK hynix'' (official) — site footer channel links. [https://www.skhynix.com/ skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
|}

{{ SK Navbox }}

'''SK hynix Inc.{{Note|hynix with a lowercase h: SK styles several affiliates this way — SK keyfoundry, SK hynix system ic, SK innovation. Only the SK prefix is capitalised.}}''' (SK하이닉스) is a South Korean semiconductor company and the memory-chip arm of [[SK Group]]. Headquartered in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, it designs and manufactures [[DRAM]], [[NAND flash memory]] and the stacked [[High Bandwidth Memory]] used by artificial-intelligence accelerators, and is one of three companies — with [[Samsung Electronics]] and [[Micron Technology]] — that between them supply almost all of the world's memory.<ref name="about" /><ref name="424b4" />

The name '''hynix''' came from '''Hy'''undai Electro'''nics''' (Hynics → hynix), back when Hyundai owned the company. The SK prefix was added in March 2012, a month after [[SK Telecom]] took control.<ref name="hist" /> More than two decades after leaving Hyundai, the company still trades under the half of its name that came from there rather than under an SK-only brand.

The name is styled '''SK hynix''', with a lowercase ''h'' — that is the form the company uses on its own site and in its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.<ref name="about" /><ref name="424b4" /> News wires and business press very often write "SK Hynix" instead; it is a house-style choice on their part, not the company's own rendering.

The company was founded in February 1983 as Hyundai Electronics, absorbed its domestic rival [[LG Semicon]] in a government-brokered merger in 1999, renamed itself Hynix Semiconductor in 2001, and spent most of the following decade under creditor control after the debt taken on in that period nearly destroyed it.<ref name="hist" /><ref name="crs">Cooper, William H. ''Hynix Semiconductor: Trade Dispute with the United States'', CRS Report RL31238. Congressional Research Service. [https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL31238.html everycrsreport.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> [[SK Telecom]] bought a controlling stake in February 2012, and the company took its present name a month later.<ref name="hist" /><ref name="skt2012">"SK Telecom completes Hynix takeover." ''The Korea Times'', February 14, 2012. [https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/business/companies/20120214/sk-telecom-completes-hynix-takeover koreatimes.co.kr]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

An early bet on High Bandwidth Memory — SK hynix built the first TSV-stacked HBM in 2013 and has shipped every subsequent generation first — turned into the defining advantage of the AI era.<ref name="hist" /><ref name="hbm4">"SK hynix Completes World's First HBM4 Development and Readies Mass Production." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), September 11, 2025. [https://news.skhynix.com/en/sk-hynix-completes-worlds-first-hbm4-development-and-readies-mass-production/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> In 2025 the company posted revenue of ₩97.15 trillion and an operating profit of ₩47.21 trillion, the largest of any listed Korean company and ahead of Samsung Electronics for the first time.<ref name="fy25" /><ref name="cnbc-profit">"SK Hynix beats Samsung on 2025 profit as AI memory demand surges." ''CNBC'', January 29, 2026. [https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/29/sk-hynix-beats-samsung-2025-profit-ai-memory-hbm.html cnbc.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> On July 10, 2026 it listed American depositary shares on the Nasdaq, raising US$26.5 billion.<ref name="424b4" />

== History ==

=== Hyundai Electronics (1983–1999) ===

Hyundai Electronics was established in February 1983 as the semiconductor venture of the [[Hyundai Group]]; the company's own later filings render the founding name as Hyundai Electronics Industries.<ref name="hist" /><ref name="lgsemicon">"Hyundai and LG Sign Definitive Agreement on Acquisition of LG Semicon by Hyundai Electronics Industries." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), May 20, 1999. [https://news.skhynix.com/en/hyundai-and-lg-sign-definitive-agreement-on-acquisition-of-lg-semicon-by-hyundai-electronics-industries/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> Construction of the Icheon plant began in October of the founding year; a pilot line produced 16K SRAM by December 1984, and 64K DRAM entered mass production in May 1985.<ref name="hist" />

=== The LG Semicon merger and Hynix Semiconductor (1999–2001) ===

After the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the Korean government pressed the chaebol into a set of industry consolidations known as the "Big Deal", under which Hyundai and LG were to combine their chip businesses.<ref name="eetimes-merger">"Hyundai and LG Semicon to merge chip ops." ''EE Times'', September 1998. [https://www.eetimes.com/hyundai-and-lg-semicon-to-merge-chip-ops/ eetimes.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> The definitive agreement was signed on May 20, 1999: Hyundai acquired 59% of LG Semicon — 91,223,594 shares — for ₩2.56 trillion, on a payment schedule running to June 2002.<ref name="lgsemicon" /> Control passed in July 1999 and the legal merger completed that October.<ref name="hist" />

The purchase gave the combined company the Cheongju fabs it still operates, but it was paid for with debt at the worst possible moment in the memory cycle. The company changed its name to Hynix Semiconductor in March 2001 and completed its separation from the Hyundai Group that August, shedding its handset, network-equipment and TFT-LCD businesses along the way.<ref name="hist" />

=== Creditor control (2001–2012) ===

Merger talks with [[Micron Technology]] opened in December 2001 and reached a tentative agreement in April 2002, but the Hynix board rejected the terms the following month as too low.<ref name="crs" /> With that route closed, a creditor group led by Korea Exchange Bank approved a rescue on December 30, 2002 — a ₩1.9 trillion debt-for-equity swap, a 21-to-1 writedown of existing shares, and an extension on ₩3 trillion of debt — leaving the creditors with roughly 86% of a company carrying ₩8.6 trillion of debt.<ref name="irishtimes">"Creditors approve bailout for chip giant Hynix." ''The Irish Times'', December 31, 2002. [https://www.irishtimes.com/news/creditors-approve-bailout-for-chip-giant-hynix-1.454223 irishtimes.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="crs" />

The restructuring drew countervailing-duty actions in the United States, the European Union and Japan, all alleging that the bailout amounted to a hidden subsidy; a WTO panel ruled against Japan's measures in 2007 and the American order was lifted in 2008.<ref name="hist" /><ref name="crs" /> Hynix sold its non-memory business in October 2004 — the operation that became MagnaChip — and left creditor administration ahead of schedule in July 2005, though the creditor banks remained its largest shareholders for another seven years.<ref name="hist" />

=== Acquisition by SK (2011–2012) ===

[[SK Telecom]] agreed in November 2011 to buy a controlling stake, and closed on February 14, 2012, paying ₩3.37 trillion for 21.05% at ₩23,099 per share — the largest acquisition in its history.<ref name="skt2012" /> [[Chey Tae-won]], chairman of SK Group, took the chair of the semiconductor company, and in March 2012 it was renamed SK hynix.<ref name="hist" />

The holding arrangement changed once more in November 2021, when SK Telecom spun off its non-telecom investments into a new company, [[SK Square]], which inherited the SK hynix stake.<ref name="skt-split">"SK Telecom Completes Company Split." ''SK Telecom Newsroom'' (official), November 2021. [https://news.sktelecom.com/en/1090 news.sktelecom.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

=== The AI memory era (2013–present) ===

SK hynix developed the first TSV-based High Bandwidth Memory in 2013 and brought it to market with [[AMD]] the following year, at a point when the industry regarded stacked memory as a niche for graphics cards.<ref name="hist" /><ref name="hbm-story">"The Story of SK hynix's HBM Development." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official). [https://news.skhynix.com/the-story-of-sk-hynixs-hbm-development/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> It was the first to mass-produce HBM2E in 2020, the first to develop HBM3 in 2021 and the first to supply it to [[NVIDIA]] in 2022, and the first to ship 8-layer and 12-layer HBM3E in 2024.<ref name="hbm2e">"SK hynix Starts Mass Production of High-Speed DRAM, HBM2E." ''SK hynix'' (official, via PR Newswire), July 2, 2020. [https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sk-hynix-starts-mass-production-of-high-speed-dram-hbm2e-301087356.html prnewswire.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="hbm3">"SK hynix to Supply Industry's First HBM3 DRAM to NVIDIA." ''SK hynix'' (official, via PR Newswire), June 8, 2022. [https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sk-hynix-to-supply-industrys-first-hbm3-dram-to-nvidia-301563831.html prnewswire.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="hbm3e12">"SK hynix Begins Volume Production of the World's First 12-Layer HBM3E." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), September 25, 2024. [https://news.skhynix.com/en/sk-hynix-begins-volume-production-of-the-world-first-12-layer-hbm3e/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

In parallel the company bought its way to scale in NAND. It acquired [[Intel]]'s NAND and solid-state drive business for a headline US$9 billion announced in October 2020, taking the SSD operation and the Dalian fab in a first closing in December 2021 — the business was rebranded [[Solidigm]] — and Intel's NAND intellectual property and research staff in a final closing in March 2025.<ref name="intel-announce">"SK hynix to Acquire Intel NAND Memory Business." ''SK hynix'' (official, via PR Newswire), October 19, 2020. [https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sk-hynix-to-acquire-intel-nand-memory-business-301155337.html prnewswire.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="intel-close1">"SK hynix Completes the First Phase of Intel NAND and SSD Business Acquisition." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), December 30, 2021. [https://news.skhynix.com/en/sk-hynix-completes-the-first-phase-of-intel-nand-and-ssd-business-acquisition/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="intel-close2">Intel Corporation, Form 8-K, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, March 27, 2025. [https://www.intc.com/filings-reports/all-sec-filings/content/0000050863-25-000060/intc-20250327.htm intc.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> It is also an investor in [[Kioxia]], having committed ¥395 billion in 2017 to the Bain Capital consortium that bought Toshiba's memory unit.<ref name="toshiba">"SK hynix Inc.'s Board Approved a Plan to Invest in Toshiba Memory Corporation." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), September 28, 2017. [https://news.skhynix.com/sk-hynix-inc-s-board-approved-a-plan-to-invest-in-toshiba-memory-corporation-2/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

The generative-AI build-out that began in 2023 turned that HBM position into the company's central business. SK hynix completed development of HBM4 — the first generation to double the interface to 2,048 I/O — in September 2025, unveiled a 16-layer 48GB part at CES 2026, and shipped HBM4E samples in June 2026.<ref name="hbm4" /><ref name="ces2026">"SK hynix Showcases Next-Generation AI Memory Innovations at CES 2026." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), January 5, 2026. [https://news.skhynix.com/en/sk-hynix-showcases-next-generation-ai-memory-innovations-at-ces-2026/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="hbm4e">"SK hynix Ships Samples of 12-Layer Next-Gen HBM4E." ''SK hynix'' (official, via PR Newswire), June 17, 2026. [https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sk-hynix-ships-samples-of-12-layer-next-gen-hbm4e-302803714.html prnewswire.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> On October 29, 2025 the company said it had already sold its entire DRAM and NAND output for the whole of the following year.<ref name="q325">"SK hynix Announces 3Q25 Financial Results." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), October 29, 2025. [https://news.skhynix.com/sk-hynix-announces-3q25-financial-results/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

== Products ==

=== DRAM ===

DRAM is the larger half of the business. SK hynix moved to EUV lithography with its 1a nm node in July 2021, reached 1b nm in 2023 and 1c nm — the sixth generation of its 10nm-class process — in August 2024, and in 2025 became the first company to put a High-NA EUV scanner into commercial use, at the M16 fab in Icheon.<ref name="1anm">"SK hynix Starts Mass Production of 1anm DRAM Using EUV Equipment." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), July 12, 2021. [https://news.skhynix.com/en/sk-hynix-starts-mass-production-of-1anm-dram-using-euv-equipment/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="1cnm">"SK hynix Develops Industry-First 1c DDR5." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), August 29, 2024. [https://news.skhynix.com/en/sk-hynix-develops-industry-first-1c-ddr5/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="highna">"SK hynix Introduces Industry's First Commercial High-NA EUV." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), September 3, 2025. [https://news.skhynix.com/en/sk-hynix-introduces-industrys-first-commercial-high-na-euv/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

The product line runs from server DDR5 — including 256GB 3DS RDIMM and MRDIMM modules — through GDDR7 graphics memory at 32 Gbps to the LPDDR family used in phones and, increasingly, in AI servers.<ref name="gddr7">"SK hynix Enhances Leadership in Graphics Memory With Introduction of Industry-Best GDDR7." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), July 30, 2024. [https://news.skhynix.com/en/sk-hynix-enhances-leadership-in-graphics-memory-with-introduction-of-industry-best-gddr7/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="lpddr6">"SK hynix Develops 1c LPDDR6." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), March 10, 2026. [https://news.skhynix.com/en/1c-lpddr6-development-2026/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> A newer category sits between the two: SOCAMM2, a 192GB low-power server module built on 1c LPDDR5X for NVIDIA's Vera Rubin platform, entered mass production in April 2026.<ref name="socamm2">"SK hynix Begins Mass Production of 192GB SOCAMM2." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), April 19, 2026. [https://news.skhynix.com/en/mass-production-socamm2-192gb/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

=== High Bandwidth Memory ===

HBM stacks DRAM dies vertically and connects them with through-silicon vias, trading manufacturing difficulty for bandwidth. Every generation since HBM2E has reached volume production at SK hynix before its competitors, a lead the company attributes in part to its MR-MUF packaging method, which fills the gaps between stacked dies with a protective material in a single reflow step rather than one layer at a time.<ref name="hbm-story" /><ref name="hbm3e12" />

The company's own record of the line runs as follows.<ref name="hist" /><ref name="hbm4" /><ref name="hbm4e" />

{|
|+ HBM generations
|-
! Generation !! Milestone !! Date
|-
| HBM || First TSV-based HBM developed || 2013
|-
| HBM2E || Mass production || July 2020
|-
| HBM3 || Development; first supply to NVIDIA || October 2021; June 2022
|-
| HBM3E (8-layer) || Volume production || March 2024
|-
| HBM3E (12-layer) || Volume production || September 2024
|-
| HBM4 || Development completed, 2,048 I/O || September 2025
|-
| HBM4E || Samples shipped || June 2026
|}

In April 2024 SK hynix agreed with [[TSMC]] to build the HBM4 base die on TSMC's logic process, a three-cornered arrangement between memory maker, foundry and customer that departs from the industry's usual practice of each memory vendor making its own base die.<ref name="tsmc">"SK hynix Partners With TSMC to Strengthen HBM Technological Leadership." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), April 19, 2024. [https://news.skhynix.com/en/sk-hynix-partners-with-tsmc-to-strengthen-hbm-technological-leadership/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

=== NAND flash and storage ===

The NAND business combines SK hynix's own 4D NAND line with Solidigm's enterprise SSD portfolio. The company mass-produced the first NAND above 300 layers — a 321-layer 1Tb TLC die — in November 2024, and a 2Tb QLC version in August 2025.<ref name="321tlc">"SK hynix Starts Mass Production of World-First 321-High NAND." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), November 20, 2024. [https://news.skhynix.com/en/sk-hynix-starts-mass-production-of-world-first-321-high-nand/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="321qlc">"SK hynix Begins Mass Production of 321-Layer QLC NAND Flash." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), August 24, 2025. [https://news.skhynix.com/en/sk-hynix-begins-mass-production-of-321-layer-qlc-nand-flash/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

At the 2025 Open Compute Project summit the company set out an "AI NAND" roadmap splitting future storage into three lines — AIN P for performance, AIN D for density and AIN B for bandwidth, the last built on a High Bandwidth Flash architecture being standardized jointly with SanDisk.<ref name="ain">"SK hynix Presents Next-Generation NAND Storage Product Strategy at OCP 2025." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), October 26, 2025. [https://news.skhynix.com/en/sk-hynix-presents-next-generation-nand-storage-product-strategy-at-ocp-2025/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

== Facilities ==

Production is concentrated in two Korean campuses, with assembly and a second DRAM base in China and a first American plant under construction.

* '''Icheon, Gyeonggi Province''' — the original 1983 site and the corporate headquarters. It holds the M10, M14 and M16 fabs; M16, completed in January 2021 at a cost of ₩3.5 trillion, was the company's first EUV fab and now houses its High-NA scanner.<ref name="m16">"SK hynix Announces the Completion of M16 Plant Construction." ''SK hynix'' (official, via PR Newswire), February 1, 2021. [https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sk-hynix-announces-the-completion-of-m16-plant-construction-301218597.html prnewswire.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="highna" />
* '''Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province''' — the campus inherited from LG Semicon, now the centre of NAND production and of HBM packaging. The M15X fab, approved in April 2024 as a ₩5.3 trillion project within a longer-term programme above ₩20 trillion, began wafer input in the first quarter of 2026.<ref name="m15x">"SK hynix to Produce DRAM From M15X in Cheongju." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), April 24, 2024. [https://news.skhynix.com/en/sk-hynix-to-produce-dram-from-m15x-in-cheongju/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="424b4" />
* '''Yongin, Gyeonggi Province''' — a four-fab cluster on a 4.15 million m² site, approved by the board in July 2024 with ₩9.4 trillion for the first fab and expanded by a further ₩21.6 trillion in February 2026, bringing that fab alone to roughly ₩31 trillion. Its first clean room is due in February 2027.<ref name="yongin">"SK hynix Board Approves Yongin Semiconductor Cluster Plan." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), July 26, 2024. [https://news.skhynix.com/en/sk-hynix-board-approves-yongin-semiconductor-cluster-plan/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="yongin2">"New Facility Investment for Yongin Semiconductor Cluster." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), February 25, 2026. [https://news.skhynix.com/new-facility-investment-for-yongin-semiconductor-cluster/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
* '''West Lafayette, Indiana, United States''' — a US$3.87 billion advanced HBM packaging plant and research testbed at Purdue Research Park, agreed in April 2024 and broken ground in April 2026 for production in the second half of 2028. It received up to US$458 million in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act.<ref name="indiana">"SK hynix Signs Investment Agreement of Advanced Chip Packaging With Indiana." ''SK Group'' (official), April 3, 2024. [https://eng.sk.com/news/sk-hynix-signs-investment-agreement-of-advanced-chip-packaging-with-indiana eng.sk.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="nist">"SK hynix — Indiana (West Lafayette)." ''National Institute of Standards and Technology, CHIPS Program Office'' (official). [https://www.nist.gov/chips/sk-hynix-indiana-west-lafayette nist.gov]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
* '''China''' — DRAM at Wuxi, assembly and test at Chongqing, and the NAND fab at Dalian acquired with Intel's storage business.<ref name="hist" /><ref name="424b4" />

The Chinese fabs became a regulatory question in 2025. The US Bureau of Industry and Security revoked SK hynix's Validated End-User authorization for its China sites with effect from December 31, 2025, replacing a standing licence with an annual approval process for American-origin equipment.<ref name="veu">"Revocation of Validated End-User Authorizations in the People's Republic of China." ''Federal Register'', September 2, 2025. [https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/09/02/2025-16735/revocation-of-validated-end-user-authorizations-in-the-peoples-republic-of-china federalregister.gov]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="424b4" />

== Corporate structure ==

SK hynix sits at the bottom of a three-step chain: SK Inc., the holding company of [[SK Group]], controls [[SK Square]], which held 20.5% of SK hynix together with its affiliates as of May 2026. The National Pension Service held 8.1% and BlackRock Fund Advisors 5.1%.<ref name="ir" /> The 20% figure is not incidental — Korea's Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act requires SK Square to keep at least a fifth of the shares, and the 2026 Nasdaq offering was sized so that its stake would land just above that floor after the new shares were issued.<ref name="424b4" />

Kwak Noh-Jung has served as president and chief executive since 2022. The board has been chaired since March 2026 by Ko Seung-Beom, an independent director; of its ten seats, six are independent.<ref name="board" />

Principal subsidiaries are [[Solidigm]], the American SSD business built from Intel's storage division; SK keyfoundry, a Cheongju specialty analog foundry bought from MagnaChip in 2022 and renamed at the start of 2024; and SK hynix system ic, a foundry subsidiary established in 2017 with an 8-inch operation in Wuxi.<ref name="hist" /><ref name="keyfoundry">"Key Foundry Changes Its Name to SK keyfoundry." ''SK keyfoundry'' (official, via PR Newswire), January 2024. [https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/key-foundry-changes-its-name-to-sk-keyfoundry-302020574.html prnewswire.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> In January 2026 the company announced that the Solidigm legal entity would be reorganized into a US artificial-intelligence solutions arm, with a US$10 billion capital commitment, while the SSD business continued under the Solidigm brand in a newly created company.<ref name="aico">"SK hynix to Establish AI Solutions Arm in US." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), January 28, 2026. [https://news.skhynix.com/sk-hynix-to-establish-ai-solutions-arm-in-us/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

== Finances ==

Results are reported under K-IFRS on a consolidated basis.<ref name="fy25" /><ref name="q126">"SK hynix Announces 1Q26 Financial Results." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), April 22, 2026. [https://news.skhynix.com/en/q1-2026-business-results/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

{|
|+ Consolidated results (K-IFRS, ₩ trillion)
|-
! Period !! Revenue !! Operating profit !! Net income
|-
| FY2024 || 66.19 || 23.47 || 19.80
|-
| FY2025 || 97.15 || 47.21 || 42.95
|-
| 1Q 2026 || 52.58 || 37.61 || 40.35
|}

FY2025 was a record on every line, and its ₩47.21 trillion operating profit exceeded Samsung Electronics' ₩43.53 trillion — the first time SK hynix had earned more than its larger domestic rival, and the highest operating profit of any listed Korean company.<ref name="fy25" /><ref name="cnbc-profit" /> The first quarter of 2026 was stronger still, with a 72% operating margin.<ref name="q126" /> Capital expenditure has risen with the AI cycle, from ₩8.3 trillion in 2023 to ₩27.5 trillion in 2025.<ref name="424b4" />

Shareholder returns for FY2025 came to ₩14.3 trillion: ₩2.1 trillion in dividends and the cancellation of 15.3 million treasury shares worth ₩12.2 trillion.<ref name="fy25" />

== Market position ==

Gartner's preliminary 2025 rankings put SK hynix third among all semiconductor companies by revenue, at US$60.6 billion, ahead of Intel and behind NVIDIA and Samsung Electronics.<ref name="gartner">"Gartner Says Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue Grew 21% in 2025." ''Gartner'', January 12, 2026. [https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-01-12-gartner-says-worldwide-semiconductor-revenue-grew-21-percent-in-2025 gartner.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

In DRAM the lead has changed hands twice in recent years. SK hynix passed Samsung Electronics in the first quarter of 2025 to take the top position in DRAM revenue for the first time since its founding, and held it for three quarters; Samsung regained the lead in the fourth quarter of 2025 and extended it through the first quarter of 2026, when TrendForce put the split at Samsung 38.5%, SK hynix 28.8% and Micron 22.4%.<ref name="counterpoint25">"SK hynix Takes Top Spot for First Time on Continued HBM Demand." ''Counterpoint Research'', April 9, 2025. [https://counterpointresearch.com/en/insights/post-insight-research-notes-blogs-sk-hynix-takes-top-spot-for-first-time-on-continued-hbm-demand counterpointresearch.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="tf-dram">"Global DRAM Revenue, 1Q26." ''TrendForce'', June 1, 2026. [https://www.trendforce.com/presscenter/news/20260601-13070.html trendforce.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> The swing reflects product mix rather than execution: conventional DRAM contract prices roughly doubled quarter on quarter in early 2026 while HBM prices softened, which favoured the vendor with the smaller HBM share.<ref name="tf-dram" />

In HBM itself SK hynix has led since the category became commercially significant, with reported shares between roughly a half and two-thirds depending on the quarter and on whether bit output or revenue is measured; Counterpoint put it at 57% of HBM revenue in the third quarter of 2025.<ref name="cp-hbm">"Global DRAM and HBM Market Share." ''Counterpoint Research'', 2026. [https://counterpointresearch.com/en/insights/global-dram-and-hbm-market-share counterpointresearch.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> Its exposure to a single customer has grown with it: NVIDIA accounted for about 27% of SK hynix revenue in the first half of 2025, against 16% for 2024.<ref name="tf-nvidia">"NVIDIA Reportedly Drives 27% of SK hynix Revenue in 1H25." ''TrendForce'', August 18, 2025. [https://www.trendforce.com/news/2025/08/18/news-nvidia-reportedly-drives-27-of-sk-hynix-revenue-in-1h25-cementing-ai-chip-partnership trendforce.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> In July 2026 SK Group and NVIDIA announced an expanded partnership covering AI infrastructure in Korea, including a two-gigawatt AI facility to be operated by SK Telecom from 2027 using SK hynix memory.<ref name="nvidia2026">"SK Group and NVIDIA Expand Strategic Partnership Across AI Factories and Next-Generation Memory." ''SK Group'' (official, via GlobeNewswire), July 25, 2026. [https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/07/25/3333161/0/en/SK-Group-and-NVIDIA-Expand-Strategic-Partnership-Across-AI-Factories-and-Next-Generation-Memory.html globenewswire.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

In NAND flash the SK group — SK hynix and Solidigm counted together — is consistently the second-largest supplier behind Samsung Electronics.<ref name="tf-nand">"NAND Flash Revenue Ranking, 4Q25." ''TrendForce'', March 3, 2026. [https://www.trendforce.com/presscenter/news/20260303-12943.html trendforce.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

== Nasdaq listing ==

SK hynix listed American depositary shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on July 10, 2026 under the ticker SKHY. The offering covered 17,790,000 common shares represented by 177.9 million ADSs — each ADS representing one-tenth of a common share — priced at US$149.00 for gross proceeds of US$26.51 billion, the largest US share sale ever by a foreign company.<ref name="424b4" /><ref name="adr">"SK hynix Lists ADRs on Nasdaq." ''SK hynix Newsroom'' (official), July 2026. [https://news.skhynix.com/en/skhynix-lists-adrs-on-nasdaq/ news.skhynix.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="forbes-adr">Roush, Tyler. "SK Hynix Surges In Record-Setting US Debut." ''Forbes'', July 10, 2026. [https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/07/10/sk-hynix-surges-17-in-record-setting-us-debut-heres-what-regular-investors-should-know/ forbes.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> The shares rose sharply on debut after a book reported as more than seven times oversubscribed, and the newly issued underlying shares were due to list on the KOSPI on July 29, 2026.<ref name="forbes-adr" /><ref name="adr" />

The listing came at the top of a run that had made SK hynix, in June 2026, the most valuable listed company in South Korea, passing Samsung Electronics for the first time.<ref name="ked-mcap">"SK Hynix overtakes Samsung Electronics as Korea's most valuable firm." ''KED Global'', June 22, 2026. [https://www.kedglobal.com/korean-chipmakers/newsView/ked202606220002 kedglobal.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> That run did not hold: on July 13, three days after the debut, the shares fell about 15% in a market-wide selloff that triggered a trading halt on the Kospi.<ref name="selloff">"SK Hynix shares plunge by record, deepening Korea selloff." ''Advisor Perspectives'', July 13, 2026. [https://www.advisorperspectives.com/articles/2026/07/13/sk-hynix-shares-plunge-record-deepening-korea-selloff advisorperspectives.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

Speaking on the day of the listing, Kwak Noh-Jung said the industry faced its tightest supply conditions on record in the coming year, with demand outrunning supply "even beyond 2030".<ref name="tomsh-ceo">"SK hynix says 2027 will be the worst year for memory shortage." ''Tom's Hardware'', July 10, 2026. [https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/dram/sk-hynix-says-2027-will-be-the-worst-year-for-memory-shortage-forecasts-crunch-to-last-until-2030-ceo-shares-grim-outlook-on-the-day-sk-hynix-gets-listed-on-nasdaq tomshardware.com]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>

== See also ==

{{ SK Navbox }}

* [[SK Group]]
* [[SK Square]]
* [[SK Telecom]]
* [[Solidigm]]
* [[High Bandwidth Memory]]
* [[Samsung Electronics]]
* [[Micron Technology]]