January 29, 2024 /SemiMedia/ -- SK Hynix recently announced that it plans to increase high-bandwidth memory (HBM) production capacity this year, which is expected to more than double last year.

According to reports, SK Hynix was the first among the world's three major storage semiconductor companies, including Samsung Electronics and Micron, to successfully turn a profit in the fourth quarter of 2023. In the fourth quarter of 2023, SK Hynix's operating profit reached 346 billion won (US$259 million), and sales reached 11.31 trillion won, an increase of 47.4% over the same period last year, which exceeded the expected 10.47 trillion won.

"The upward trend in the memory market is expected to continue into next year. Customers who expect memory prices to rise began to increase purchase orders from the fourth quarter of last year. New demand mainly comes from PC and mobile customers with lower inventory levels," said Kim Woo-hyun, vice president and chief financial officer of SK hynix.

Kim Woo-hyun expects that DRAM demand-side inventories will return to normal levels in the first half of this year, and NAND will see the same recovery in the second half of the year.

The report pointed out that the company aims to ensure profitability by focusing on high value-added products such as HBM and DDR5 to cope with growing demand. It is worth noting that HBM and DDR5 sales increased four times and five times respectively compared with the previous year.

The semiconductor industry is recovering faster than expected, driven by new demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and industry production cuts.