RAM-raid profit frenzy sees Micron, SK Hynix hit $1T market caps - SDxCentral

In May 2026, memory chipmakers Micron Technology and SK Hynix saw their market caps surpass the $1 trillion mark, driven by surging demand in the semiconductor industry fueled by the AI boom. Despite ... Read original →

Micron and SK Hynix crossing the $1T market cap threshold reflects AI’s insatiable demand for HBM, not mere cyclical recovery. Technologically, HBM3E/HBM4 ramp-up is forcing TSV and CoWoS packaging capacity expansion while accelerating RISC-V-based SOCAMM architectures into commercial deployment. Geopolitically, U.S. export controls compel costly supply chain reconfiguration—raising operational expenses by 15–20%—yet deepen partnerships in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, China. Samsung, squeezed out of the price war playbook, will likely pivot toward alliances with Solidigm and Semidynamics to embed TurboQuant interfaces and capture AI chip ecosystem share. Over the next 12–24 months, HBM capacity will become a geopolitical lever, and memory makers’ capex will shift decisively from commodity DRAM toward AI-integrated smart memory, consolidating industry power among fewer players.