SK Hynix US sales hit 70% in Q1 on AI demand

SK hynix has reported that its United States sales accounted for over 70% of its total revenue in the first quarter of 2025.

This increase is attributed to strong demand for high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips from major US technology firms.

According to the company’s financial report released on May 15, 2025, US revenues reached 12.8 trillion won (US$9.1 billion).

This figure represents 72% of total quarterly sales of 17.6 trillion won (US$13.04 billion).

This is a significant increase from the same period last year, when US sales were 6.3 trillion won (US$4.67 billion), or 50% of total revenue.

The rise in US sales is linked to growing demand for AI-related products.

🔗 Source: The Korea Times

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ SK hynix’s early dominance in HBM has fueled remarkable geographic revenue shift

SK hynix has strategically positioned itself as the dominant player in the high bandwidth memory (HBM) market with approximately 70% market share, allowing it to capitalize on surging AI chip demand 1.

This leadership in HBM has transformed the company’s revenue composition, with US sales increasing from 50% a year ago to 64% in Q3 2024, and now reaching 72% in Q1 2025 2.

The shift correlates with major AI companies’ growing appetite for HBM, particularly Nvidia, which uses SK hynix’s 12-layer HBM3E product in its AI accelerators that power data centers across the United States.

Meanwhile, China’s contribution to SK hynix’s revenue has steadily declined from approximately 30% to just 15% today, leading the company to restructure operations like liquidating its Shanghai sales office 3.

This geographic revenue transformation shows how specialized semiconductor technologies can reshape a company’s market focus, with SK hynix pivoting toward US-based AI customers where premium memory products command higher margins.

2️⃣ Memory manufacturers face growing market headwinds despite AI boom

Despite SK hynix’s current strong position, the company faces emerging competitive pressures from both established rivals and new entrants in the memory market.