SK Hynix 2025 profit soars, surpasses Samsung on AI boom

SK hynix, a South Korean memory chipmaker poured 6.7 trillion won (US$4.48 billion) into research and development in 2025 as demand for high-bandwidth memory rose after the global AI boom, according to a regulatory filing posted on the Financial Supervisory Service system.

This 2025 R&D spend represent a 35% jump from 4.9 trillion won (US$3.28 billion) in 2024.

SK hynix posted a record operating profit of 47.2 trillion won (US$31.59 billion) in 2025, more than double its 2024 profit and the first time it beat Samsung Electronics who spent a record 37.7 trillion won (US$25.23 billion) on R&D in 2025.

In January, industry sources said SK hynix was picked to supply around two-thirds of the HBM4 chips needed for Nvidia’s Vera Rubin AI platform, and is expected to further strengthen its HBM business this year.

🔗 Source: The Korea Times

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

SK hynix’s record R&D spend tracks a new approach to working with suppliers

Higher R&D spending goes beyond internal work. It also fits a shift toward closer cooperation with suppliers 1.
SK hynix is a founding partner with Applied Materials, a U.S. maker of semiconductor manufacturing tools, at its EPIC (Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization) Center in Silicon Valley. Engineers from both companies will work side by side 2.
The partnership seeks to speed up commercialization. The teams plan to co-develop new materials, complex process integration, and 3D advanced packaging for next-generation DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) 3.

The race for AI memory pushes more of the supply chain into the U.S.

Competition for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in AI hardware is pulling investment beyond Asia. That shift changes where parts of the semiconductor supply chain sit.
SK hynix plans to spend $3.9 billion on its first U.S. advanced packaging plant in West Lafayette, Indiana. The site aims to produce ready-to-use HBM modules for AI accelerators by 2028 4.
Tom’s Hardware says the Indiana plant is set to be the first high-volume 2.5D packaging site on U.S. soil. If executed as described, it would offer an alternative to TSMC’s CoWoS platform (a widely used advanced chip-packaging and assembly technology) for final assembly 4.
$458 million in CHIPS Act grants and loans will cover part of the cost. The funding supports a wider push to make AI components closer to where they are used and to strengthen supply lines 4.