How SK Hynix's bet on a niche memory chip made it more valuable than Samsung (opens original article in a new tab)

SK Hynix's strategic focus on high-bandwidth memory chips, despite initial skepticism, led to its rise as South Korea's most valuable company, surpassing Samsung after the AI boom.

• SK Hynix overtook Samsung as South Korea's most valuable company after 14 years of focusing on high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips.
• SK Hynix's investment in HBM, initially seen as risky, paid off with the AI boom driven by Nvidia and OpenAI's ChatGPT in 2022.
• Despite early struggles and a 2023 loss, SK Hynix became the top DRAM maker in 2025 and plans to list in the U.S. to expand its investor base.