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first_img Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix raise third-quarter operating profit expectations

According to the Chosun Ilbo report on September 15, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix's third-quarter operating profit consensus has been raised again within three months. Based on reports from major brokerages and overseas investment banks, Samsung Electronics' estimated operating profit for the third quarter is approximately 114 trillion won, an increase of 12.2836 trillion won (12%) from 101.9052 trillion won three months ago, and a 28% increase from 89.4 trillion won in the second quarter. SK Hynix's estimate for the third quarter is 78.8035 trillion won, a 4% increase from 75.7249 trillion won three months ago, and a 30% increase from 60.5426 trillion won in the second quarter.TrendForce expects the fixed transaction prices for general DRAM in the third quarter to rise by 13% to 18% quarter-on-quarter, while NAND flash is expected to rise by 10% to 15%. The securities industry is paying attention to Samsung Electronics' HBM4 revenue share, which expanded from 5% in the first quarter to about 35% in the second quarter, along with improvements in yield rates. SK Hynix maintains the largest market share in HBM, but improvements in Samsung's HBM4 mass production may dilute its supply premium. Citigroup Securities has lowered SK Hynix's third-quarter operating profit estimate from 76.7 trillion won to 74 trillion won due to the strengthening of the won. Micron will announce its fourth-quarter results for fiscal year 2026 (June to August) on the 30th, with revenue guidance of $49 billion to $51 billion.

first_img CXMT has launched the equipment bidding for the new factory in Shanghai and is planning to expand production in multiple locations

China's largest DRAM manufacturer Changxin Storage (CXMT) has recently launched a bidding for equipment from partners for its new factory in Shanghai and is advancing capacity expansion in multiple locations. CXMT is currently mass-producing DRAM in Hefei Phase II and Beijing Phase I, with an estimated capacity of about 200,000 wafers per month, which may exceed 300,000 wafers per month by the end of the year.CXMT plans to open the new factory in Shanghai in the fourth quarter of this year, and the related equipment bidding has already started. Semiconductor equipment industry insiders say that the factory is planned to be expanded in two phases, with capacity significantly exceeding 100,000 wafers per month. Subsequently, there are plans to open a new factory in Hefei in the first half of next year and the earliest new factory in Beijing in the second half of next year, with another new factory in Hefei opening in the first half of the year after next.Equipment industry insiders say that CXMT has communicated with multiple parties regarding the timing of building factories in various locations. If all plans are realized, CXMT could add at least 70,000 to 80,000 wafers of capacity per month each year from this year until 2028, with a long-term goal of exceeding 600,000 wafers per month. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix's DRAM capacities are estimated at about 700,000 wafers and 600,000 wafers per month, respectively.

first_img SK Hynix stated that 3D DRAM development can utilize foundry processes

SK Hynix stated on the 9th that the development of the next-generation memory 3D DRAM semiconductor can utilize foundry processes. The day before, at the 2026 SK Hynix Future Forum held at the Supex Center in the Icheon campus, Vice President Kim Kyung-hoon and Son Ho-young presented the main technical directions for 3D DRAM, including the use of logic foundry processes for DRAM peripheral circuits, maximizing data bus bandwidth, and ultra-short distance transmission.3D DRAM is the next-generation DRAM that vertically stacks the originally planar storage cells to improve integration. The two stated that achieving this technology requires addressing not only design and heat dissipation issues but also challenges in fine interconnections, bonding, and process integration in the packaging field. As the boundaries between front-end and back-end packaging, foundry, and memory technology converge, collaborative optimization beyond existing fields will become more important. Son Ho-young mentioned that 3D technology is changing the technological boundaries between wafer fabs and packaging, and it is necessary to establish an optimization and new collaboration system that transcends existing fields alongside innovations in advanced packaging technology.In a related presentation, Professor Shin Chang-hwan from Korea University stated that 3D DRAM is not only about the vertical stacking of chips but also a technology that breaks the boundaries between memory and logic. As device miniaturization approaches its limits and the time and power consumption associated with data movement between systems and memory increases, the shift to 3D technology is inevitable. He proposed a 3D integrated design framework that links materials, devices, packaging, and architecture through artificial intelligence. SK Hynix President Kwon Oh-joon, in his speech, remarked that the past memory market resembled a straight road where the competition was about who could run faster, but now it resembles a constantly changing curve, making it important to grasp the speed and direction of external environmental changes and adapt flexibly in addition to internal capabilities.

first_img Korean brokerage warns that Samsung and SK Hynix have less than 10 days of memory inventory

KB Securities warned that the inventory of memory semiconductors at Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix has fallen to less than 10 days of supply, and the available supply next year will be significantly insufficient. The agency reported on Monday that investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure is expanding at an unprecedented pace, leading to a severe supply shortage in the memory chip market. A key factor is the transition to HBM4, which requires about three times the wafers of traditional DRAM, and limited wafer capacity will reduce the available capacity of traditional DRAM.KB Securities expects that next year, the demand for DRAM and NAND will exceed supply by more than 10 percentage points. Research director Kim Dong-won stated that artificial intelligence servers will consume HBM, server DDR5, and enterprise-grade solid-state drives, potentially leading to a historic shortage. Global hyperscale data center operators have raised their expectations for artificial intelligence infrastructure investment next year to $1.3 trillion, a 60% increase from the previous year. The agency anticipates that memory semiconductors will account for 57% of total investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure next year, up from 14% last year, with TrendForce estimating this ratio could reach as high as 68%. Samsung Electronics' stock price has dropped nearly 28% from its peak, while SK Hynix has fallen nearly 40%.

first_img SK Hynix accelerates the expansion of its 1c DRAM market share, becoming the main force by early next year

According to the Chosun Ilbo report on September 7, SK Hynix is accelerating the increase of the production share of 10-nanometer sixth-generation (1c) DRAM. Industry data shows that its 1c DRAM share rose from about 10% in the first quarter of this year to about 13% in the second quarter, and is expected to reach about 24% in the third quarter and about 34% in the fourth quarter; it may rise to about 35% in the first quarter of next year, surpassing 1b (about 33%) for the first time and becoming the main process. The share of 1b (10-nanometer fifth-generation) DRAM peaked at about 43% in the second quarter of this year and has since begun to decline.By the end of the second quarter, Samsung Electronics had a 1c share of about 16% and Micron about 19%, both higher than SK Hynix's approximately 13%. Reports indicate that SK Hynix is accelerating the transition in the second half of the year, and in the fourth quarter, it may exceed Samsung Electronics' approximately 31% with about 34%. SK Hynix stated in its second-quarter earnings call that the supply of DRAM using the 1c process will substantially begin from the second quarter, and in the second half of the year, with the ramp-up of HBM4 and increased shipments of 1c general DRAM, the bit growth rate will be higher than in the first half.Samsung Electronics will use 1c DRAM starting with HBM4, with a running speed of about 11.7Gbps; SK Hynix previously prioritized ensuring mass production stability with verified 1b DRAM and advanced MR-MUF packaging, and will use 1c DRAM for the first time as the core chip for HBM starting with the next generation HBM4E. Counterpoint Research and others estimate that this year, the market share of HBM4 under the combined metrics of Nvidia, Google, and AMD is approximately 50% for SK Hynix in the mid-range, 20% for Samsung Electronics in the later range, and 10% for Micron in the later range.

first_img Google disassembles retired servers to recycle DDR4 in response to memory shortages

Google's Senior Director of Supply Chain Infrastructure, Nikhil Cherian, revealed that to overcome memory bottlenecks, Google is developing software and hardware solutions and dismantling retired servers to recycle DDR4 components to establish an internal recycling supply chain. Google has designed special hardware adapters to connect the previous generation DDR4 to the new generation of AI servers while importing retired servers to remove their DDR4 modules for recycling.Cherian stated that the AI industry has rapidly shifted from being compute-constrained to memory-constrained, with high-performance memory accounting for about 75% of the bill of materials cost for a given AI server. A Goldman Sachs report indicated that memory prices will continue to rise in the third quarter, with personal computer DRAM prices expected to increase by 18% to 23% and server DRAM prices expected to rise by 13% to 18%. Trendforce data shows that in August, the spot market prices for DDR4 8GB and DDR5 8GB rose to $142 and $133, respectively.The two TPU ASICs launched by Google this year have been optimized for memory design, claiming to reduce memory demand to one-sixth of the original. The TPU8i chip features a dedicated layered memory design that relies on a high-speed DDR5 memory architecture to perform host-level tasks, with each chip equipped with 288GB of HBM3e high-bandwidth memory.

first_img Samsung Electronics' operating profit in the third quarter may exceed 1 trillion won for the first time

According to a report by South Korea's Seoul Economic Daily on August 31, the prices of HBM and DRAM used in AI accelerators continue to rise. Data from the Korea Trade Association shows that DRAM export volume decreased from approximately 681.7 million units in May to 591.74 million units in July, a decline of 13.2%. However, the export value increased from $11.428 billion to $13.552 billion, a growth of 18.5%, with the export unit price rising from $16.76 to $22.9, an increase of 36.6%.The supply of HBM4 to customers such as Nvidia is expanding, but the initial yield is lower than that of HBM3E, exacerbating the overall DRAM supply shortage. Samsung Electronics' memory division is reportedly planning to allocate about 70% of its capacity to long-term supply agreements until 2031, with major clients including Nvidia, Microsoft, and Google. Mega Grid Supply data shows that the spot price for HBM3E 36GB is $2,100, approximately 4 to 5 times the long-term contract price; the spot price for HBM4 16-layer, which is in mass production coordination, is about $3,500.The financial investment community expects Samsung Electronics' third-quarter revenue to reach 206.64 trillion won and operating profit to reach 116.38 trillion won, with operating profit expected to exceed 100 trillion won for the first time. SK Hynix's third-quarter revenue is expected to be 101.76 trillion won, with operating profit of 79.16 trillion won. Samsung Electronics is considering converting its only wafer foundry line S5 in the Pyeongtaek campus to memory production as early as next year.

Changxin Technology's revenue in the first half of the year was 150.31 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 873.64%

Changxin Technology released its 2026 semi-annual report, with revenue of 150.31 billion yuan in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 873.64%; net profit attributable to shareholders was 77.61 billion yuan, compared to a loss of 2.33 billion yuan in the same period last year; net cash flow from operating activities was 131.16 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2985.64%; gross profit margin was 84.84%, and R&D investment was 6.859 billion yuan, accounting for 4.56% of revenue. As of the end of the reporting period, total assets were 468.078 billion yuan, and net assets were 270.749 billion yuan.The company is the fourth largest DRAM IDM manufacturer globally and the largest in China, with products covering DDR5, LPDDR5/5X, LPDDR6, etc. It has collaborated with leading clients such as Alibaba Cloud, ByteDance, Tencent, Lenovo, Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo, and the fifth-generation process technology platform is undergoing customer certification. As of June 30, the company held a total of 4,484 domestic patents and 3,400 foreign patents, with 7,491 R&D personnel, accounting for 33.42%. The company has no controlling shareholder or actual controller, with the largest shareholder, Qinghui Jidian, holding 21.67%. The company was listed on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board on July 27, with an issue price of 8.66 yuan per share, and its market value exceeded 3.5 trillion yuan on the first day of trading.
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