SK Hynix Overtakes Samsung to Claim DRAM Market Leadership as AI Memory Investment War Intensifies

For American readers unfamiliar with the Korean semiconductor landscape, a historic shift has occurred in the global memory chip industry. SK Hynix, the world's second-largest memory chipmaker after Samsung Electronics, has achieved its first-ever market leadership position in the global DRAM market during Q1 2025. According to Counterpoint Research's Q1 2025 memory report, SK Hynix captured 36% market share by revenue, surpassing Samsung Electronics in a milestone achievement driven by the explosive growth of generative AI and surging demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM).

This development represents a fundamental shift in Korea's semiconductor ecosystem, similar to how Intel and AMD have competed in the U.S. CPU market. For context, Samsung Electronics has traditionally dominated the memory semiconductor market much like Intel dominated processors for decades. However, just as AMD gained market share through superior performance in specific segments, SK Hynix has leveraged its expertise in AI-optimized memory to challenge Samsung's long-standing supremacy.

The AI semiconductor boom has triggered a new investment cycle in Korea's memory semiconductor industry. Market research firms and securities companies predict that global DRAM investments will increase by 54% year-over-year in 2025, with NAND flash investments also rising by 14%. This marks the third major investment cycle following cloud computing in 2017 and pandemic supply shortages in 2021, similar to how Silicon Valley experienced investment booms during the dot-com era and mobile revolution.

SK Hynix's Q4 operating profit exceeded Samsung Electronics' semiconductor division performance. While Samsung reported preliminary Q4 results of 6.5 trillion won ($4.8 billion), its Device Solutions (DS) division is estimated at approximately 3 trillion won ($2.2 billion). SK Hynix's strong Q4 performance was driven by high-value HBM sales, with the company's HBM revenue share within DRAM expected to expand to 44% in 2025.

HBM4 Production Race Intensifies

Both companies are investing heavily in next-generation AI memory HBM4 production, creating competition reminiscent of the NVIDIA-AMD GPU wars in the American market. SK Hynix plans to mass-produce 12-layer HBM4 in the second half of 2025 and 16-layer products by 2026. Samsung Electronics began supplying 12-layer HBM4 samples to major AI chip companies including NVIDIA and AMD in July, while SK Hynix provided 12-layer HBM4 samples to NVIDIA in March, demonstrating the intense competition for AI chip partnerships.

Investment scales are expanding dramatically, comparable to major U.S. fab investments by Intel and TSMC. SK Hynix will complete its Cheongju M15X fab in November with total design capacity of 90K wafers per month, planning equipment orders of 10K this year and 60K next year. When full ramp-up begins in 2026, HBM4 response capabilities will be significantly strengthened. The Yongin Cluster Phase 1 fab will be completed in May 2027, becoming a key hub supporting HBM3E and HBM4 volume.

Samsung Electronics is also accelerating transition investments to next-generation D1c (6th generation early 10nm) DRAM at its Pyeongtaek P4 plant. Equipment orders of 45K wafers per month are expected by year-end for HBM4 mass production preparation. In the United States, Samsung will complete cleanroom and piping work at its Texas Taylor plant this year, starting equipment installation in the first half of next year, with cumulative investments expected to exceed $40 billion following a ~$17 billion 2nm foundry supply contract with Tesla.

AI Era Memory Technology Innovation

Next-generation memory technology represents a paradigm shift comparable to the evolution from traditional computing to cloud architecture in the U.S. tech industry. Unlike traditional architectures where only CPUs handle computation, new memory technologies enable processing within memory itself, dramatically improving overall data processing performance. Processing-In-Memory (PIM) technology has shown AI model performance improvements of approximately 3.4 times or more compared to using HBM with GPU accelerators, potentially revolutionizing data center efficiency in ways similar to how virtualization transformed server utilization.

According to TrendForce, the HBM market is expected to grow to $46.7 billion (approximately $64 trillion won) this year, with SK Hynix maintaining over 70% market share. This dominance parallels how American companies like NVIDIA have captured AI chip markets, though in memory rather than processors. 6th generation HBM (HBM4) orders are becoming increasingly customized, and SK Hynix is projected to maintain stable performance with 2025 operating profit of 33.6 trillion won ($25 billion).

Industry analysts note that "the rapid spread of generative AI services has led to explosive demand for high-performance memory semiconductors for training and inference," explaining that "Korean memory semiconductor companies are becoming responsible for core AI infrastructure, creating an excellent opportunity to seize leadership in global technology competition." This mirrors how American cloud providers became essential infrastructure during the digital transformation era.

For American tech companies and investors, this development signals important shifts in the global AI supply chain. Just as U.S. companies rely on NVIDIA for AI processing power, they increasingly depend on Korean memory companies for AI memory solutions. The performance gap between AI applications often comes down to memory bandwidth and capacity, making HBM technology as crucial as processing power itself.

This AI memory semiconductor investment war is expected to continue beyond 2025 into 2026, representing a critical turning point for strengthening Korea's global competitiveness in the semiconductor industry. Particularly, HBM4 technological capabilities and mass production capacity are analyzed as key factors that will determine market leadership in the future AI semiconductor market, potentially reshaping global AI infrastructure dependencies much like how cloud computing redefined enterprise IT architecture.

The implications for Silicon Valley and American tech companies are significant, as memory performance increasingly determines AI application capabilities. Companies developing large language models, autonomous vehicles, and AI-powered services must carefully consider memory partnerships as foundational to their competitive advantages, making Korean memory leadership a strategic factor in global AI development.

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Korean Original: SK하이닉스, DRAM 시장 첫 1위 달성... AI 메모리 반도체 투자 전쟁 가속화