SK Hynix overtook Samsung Electronics on June 22 to become South Korea's most valuable publicly traded company. This shift ended Samsung's 26-year reign at the top of the market. At the close, SK Hynix's market capitalization reached approximately 2,080 trillion won ($1.35 trillion). Samsung’s market capitalization for common shares stood at 2,067 trillion won.
The artificial intelligence boom and SK Hynix's dominance in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) drove the valuation surge. The company serves as a primary supplier of HBM chips for Nvidia’s AI accelerators. This specialization allowed SK Hynix to capture AI-driven demand more effectively than the diversified Samsung Electronics.
Samsung noted its total market capitalization remains higher if preferred shares are included in the calculation. The ascent of SK Hynix reflects a significant change in the semiconductor industry hierarchy. Specialized AI memory chips have now become critical components for global market leadership.