According to media reports, SK Hynix recently shared its latest perspectives on the memory industry and its own operations during a Goldman Sachs conference call. The company stated that the global memory industry has completely shifted to a seller's market, with price increases expected to persist throughout the year.
This assessment is based on the dual pressures of exploding AI demand and rigid supply constraints. The company revealed that its current inventory of DRAM and NAND is down to approximately four weeks, and no customer is able to have their demand fully met.
More critically, the production capacity for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) for 2026 is already fully booked in advance. The severe shortage of standard DRAM is significantly strengthening suppliers' pricing power, prompting the supply chain to initiate long-term contract negotiations to secure future supplies.
SK Hynix attributes the core reasons for this situation to two main factors: first, the genuine demand for memory from AI large language models and high-performance computing continues to surge, far exceeding industry expectations; second, the expansion of cleanroom space, which is essential for memory chip manufacturing, is progressing slowly, limiting capacity ramp-up and creating a significant demand-supply gap.
"The company will be unable to meet all customer demand this year, making continuous price increases inevitable," the company stated.
SK Hynix is one of the world's top three memory manufacturers. On January 28, the company released its financial results for the fiscal year 2025 and the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2025. For fiscal year 2025, the company reported revenue of 97.1467 trillion Korean won, an operating profit of 47.2063 trillion won (operating profit margin of 49%), and a net profit of 42.9479 trillion won (net profit margin of 44%).
This performance significantly exceeded the record highs set in 2024. Revenue increased by over 30 trillion won year-over-year, and operating profit also doubled, setting a new record for annual performance.