KB Securities said on the 12th that Samsung Electronics is expected to benefit as a DRAM supply shortage occurs from next year onward. It pointed to Samsung Electronics as the top pick in the semiconductor industry and kept its target price at 90,000 won and its investment opinion at "buy."
The increase in DRAM demand has been appearing in the general server institutional sector since the third quarter of this year. In particular, DRAM demand from hyperscalers (large cloud service providers) is surging. Since cloud server installations increased in 2018, investment has concentrated on AI servers, delaying the replacement cycle from the usual five years, and only recently has replacement been underway.
Kim Dong-won, a KB Securities researcher, said, "Since the second half of this year, DRAM demand has been exceeding expectations, centered on servers, but semiconductor corporations are focusing only on expanding HBM," and added, "From early next year, supply of commodity DRAM will tighten, and in the second half, an overall supply shortage will appear."
Samsung Electronics is also expected to benefit in the HBM institutional sector. Nvidia is said to have recently asked HBM suppliers to improve product speed. Given that North American HBM suppliers have so far focused on power efficiency, Samsung Electronics' product competitiveness could stand out.
Kim said, "Nvidia is expected to focus on expanding shipments of HBM4 at 10 Gbps," and added, "Suppliers of HBM in Korea, including Samsung Electronics, are expected to benefit."