SK hynix overtakes Samsung as South Korea’s most valuable company

SK hynix has overtaken Samsung Electronics as South Korea's most valuable listed company, a shift that signals the massive economic weight of artificial intelligence hardware. This milestone reflects how demand for High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) has reshaped the global semiconductor landscape, moving value from traditional memory producers to specialized AI chip suppliers. Buyers and investors now see a clear divergence in market confidence between legacy chipmakers and those dominating the AI infrastructure supply chain.

AI chip demand drives 340 percent rally to $1.35 trillion valuation

The valuation change occurred on June 22, 2026, when SK hynix shares rose 5.6% to reach a market capitalization of 2,080.4 trillion won, approximately $1.35 trillion. Samsung Electronics held a market cap of 2,066.7 trillion won at the time, placing it second in the national ranking. SK hynix shares have rallied 340% over the past year, driven by relentless demand for HBM products used in AI training and inference workloads.

SK hynix controlled 61% of the global HBM market in 2025, leaving Samsung with 17% and Micron with 21%. This dominance stems from Samsung's yield and qualification delays on its HBM3E chips, which slowed orders from major customers like Nvidia. Nvidia has confirmed that all three major memory makers passed HBM4 certification for its Vera Rubin platform, indicating that the competitive gap is narrowing in the next generation of memory standards.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won stated that his goal in acquiring Hynix was to transform it from a commodity memory producer into a mainstream semiconductor company with indispensable products. Samsung disputes the current market cap ranking by arguing that its valuation should include preferred shares, which would lift its value to 2,246.4 trillion won. This accounting difference highlights the complexity of comparing corporate valuations across different share structures in the semiconductor industry.