Shares of SK hynix and Samsung Electronics fell more than 3% in Seoul. Chinese startup DeepSeek announced its V4.1 Flash model requires significantly less high-bandwidth memory (HBM).
The new architecture also reduces the need for solid-state storage. This development sparked investor concerns over long-term demand for specialized AI chips, a major revenue source for SK hynix. The stock faced downward pressure despite gains in several U.S.-listed memory peers.