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[News] SK Hynix Reportedly Raises Prices Again, with DRAM Products to Increase by 15-20%


2024-05-06 Semiconductors editor

The surge in memory product prices continues, driven by the AI wave revitalizing the memory market. According to a report from Liberty Times Net, prices of high-performance DRAM are also on the rise. Industry sources cited by the same report have indicated that SK Hynix’s LPDDR5/LPDDR4/DDR5 and other DRAM products will see a comprehensive price hike of 15-20%.

According to a report from Chinese media Wallstreetcn, it has cited industry sources, noting that SK Hynix’s DRAM product prices have been steadily increasing month by month since the fourth quarter of last year, with cumulative increases ranging from approximately 60% to 100%. This upward trend in memory prices is expected to continue until the second half of the year.

On April 25th, SK Hynix announced its first-quarter financial results, with revenue soaring to KRW 12.42 trillion, marking a staggering 144.3% increase compared to the same period last year. Operating profit reached KRW 2.88 trillion, far exceeding market expectations of KRW 1.8 trillion, and achieving the second-highest historical figure for the same period.

Contrasting with the loss of KRW 3.4 trillion in the same period last year, this performance represents a significant turnaround for SK Hynix, signaling a shift from a prolonged period of stagnation to comprehensive recovery.

Looking ahead, SK Hynix expressed optimism, stating that the growing demand for memory driven by AI and the recovery of demand for general DRAM products starting from the second half of this year will contribute to a stable growth trend in the memory market for the rest of the year.

Industry sources cited by the report predict that as demand for high-end products like HBM increases, requiring larger capacity compared to general DRAM products, the increase in output of high-end products will lead to a relative decrease in supply of general DRAM products. Consequently, both suppliers and clients are expected to deplete their inventories.

In line with the trend of growing memory demand for AI applications, SK Hynix has decided to ramp up the production of its HBM3e products, which began global production in March this year, and expand its customer base. Additionally, the company plans to launch its fifth-generation 10-nanometer class (1b) 32Gb DDR5 DRAM products within this year, aiming to strengthen its market leadership in high-capacity DRAM products for servers.

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(Photo credit: SK Hynix)

Please note that this article cites information from Liberty Times Net and Wallstreetcn.