SK hynix beats Samsung Electronics in market cap for 1st time

Seoul, June 22 (IANS) Chip major SK hynix has surpassed Samsung Electronics in terms of market capitalisation for the first time, the bourse operator said on Monday.

The market capitalisation of SK hynix reached 2,091 trillion won ($1,358 billion) at 12:42 p.m., surpassing Samsung Electronics' 2,090 trillion won, according to the Korea Exchange (KRX), reports Yonhap news agency.

It marked the first time that Samsung Electronics has given up its throne on the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) since steadfastly remaining at the top since 2000. It first ranked No. 1 in terms of market capitalisation in 1999.

Shares of SK hynix rose 6.15 percent to 2,934,000 won, while Samsung Electronics moved up 0.99 percent to 357,500 won.

Meanwhile, SK hynix said last week it has begun shipping samples of its latest high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chip, the 12-layer HBM4E, to major global customers, marking another step in the race to supply next-generation memory for artificial intelligence (AI) applications.

"The company was able to deliver samples of the 12-stack HBM4E on schedule thanks to its advanced HBM development and production expertise for HBM," SK hynix said. "We will work closely with partners for mass production in a timely manner,” it added.

The 12-layer HBM4E delivers improvements in both performance and power efficiency, according to the company. It offers more than 20 percent greater power efficiency than the previous memory model.

The enhancements are expected to improve data processing capabilities for AI training and inference workloads.

"SK hynix has laid the foundation to strengthen its AI leadership with HBM4E based on its market-leading technological capabilities and manufacturing expertise," Ahn Hyun, president and chief development officer, said in a statement. "Through close collaboration with our partners, we will deliver the value needed in the market while reinforcing our technology leadership as a full-stack AI memory creator."

SK hynix's customers include major AI companies, such as Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Nvidia Corp. and Google.