It was found that SK hynix supplied 7.7806 trillion won worth of memory chips to Nvidia in the first quarter of this year. That is a 62.6% surge from the same period last year (4.7862 trillion won), and analysts say demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) driven by the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure lifted results.
According to the quarterly report disclosed by SK hynix on the 15th, total sales in the first quarter of this year came to 52.5763 trillion won. Of that, sales to Nvidia accounted for 14.8% of the total, maintaining an overwhelming No. 1 position among single customers.
SK hynix is currently supplying HBM3E (fifth generation) to Nvidia and is also preparing to deliver the next-generation HBM4 (sixth generation). On an earnings conference call last month, the company said, "HBM4 is being developed from the early stage in close collaboration with customers to meet required performance," adding, "We are preparing to ramp volumes and deliver on time in line with the agreed schedule."
A new major customer has emerged following Nvidia. A new customer accounting for 12.4% (6.5365 trillion won) of total first-quarter sales has been identified. The industry estimates it to be one of the global big tech companies such as Microsoft (MS) or Google, but the specific customer name was not disclosed in the filing.
By region, the United States cemented its position as the largest market, accounting for 64.7% (33.9992 trillion won) of total sales. Considering that the U.S. share was 72% in the first quarter of last year, the ratio edged down, but absolute sales jumped by more than 21 trillion won. Sales in China were 12.7966 trillion won, or 24.3% of the total, up about 9 percentage points from a year earlier.
SK hynix is focusing on selling high-value products for servers and AI, including HBM, to U.S. big tech, while pursuing a two-track strategy in China by primarily supplying mobile products such as LPDDR and NAND.