(LEAD) SK hynix beats Samsung Electronics in market cap to become most valuable company - Yonhap News Agency

SK Hynix surpassed Samsung Electronics on June 22 to become South Korea's most valuable listed company, according to Yonhap News Agency. With a market cap of 208.037 trillion won (approximately $135.0... Read original →

SK hynix overtaking Samsung in market cap reflects concentrated investor bets on HBM as the critical AI infrastructure bottleneck. Its tight integration with NVIDIA and Google’s HBM3E/HBM4 supply chains is accelerating upstream adoption of CoWoS and TSV packaging, inflating costs for silicon interposers and advanced substrates. Samsung, hampered by weak synergy between its logic and memory divisions, lags in AI-optimized DRAM response. While U.S.-ROK semiconductor alignment secures SK hynix better EUV access, expanded U.S. HBM export controls could expose vulnerabilities in its reliance on packaging capacity in Taiwan, China. Samsung will likely streamline non-core assets to refocus on AI DRAM and GAA transistor integration; SK hynix may deepen vertical partnerships with Japanese material suppliers. The 18-month window before HBM5 standardization will determine whether either can lock in irreversible server memory dominance.