"Golden Decade" for HBM? SK Hynix Predicts 30% Annual Growth Through 2030

TradingKey - According to a Reuters report, SK Hynix executive Choi Jun-yong stated that the market for artificial intelligence (AI)-specific memory chips is projected to grow at an annual rate of 30% through 2030.

Choi highlighted that "non-negotiable demand" for high-bandwidth, low-latency memory from AI training and inference workloads serves as the core growth driver.

Enterprises led by Amazon, Microsoft, and Google have continuously raised AI infrastructure investments, directly fueling procurement demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). Choi emphasized the "strong correlation" between AI infrastructure development and HBM procurement, noting end-customer demand for AI remains "resilient and robust."

SK Hynix stated that its 30% annual growth projection already factors in potential constraints, such as energy availability and supply chain stability, suggesting that actual growth could be more optimistic.

The company also observed a rapid shift in the AI memory market from standardized products toward customized HBM solutions. As AI chip manufacturers increasingly demand differentiated performance, power consumption, and cost specifications, generic HBM can no longer satisfy niche scenario requirements. Client demand for customized interfaces, thermal designs, and energy efficiency features has surged significantly.

SK Hynix forecasts the customized HBM market will reach a "tens of billions scale" by 2030.

This trend is already evident in client structure: Industry leaders like Nvidia have begun receiving "personalized customization" services from SK Hynix, while smaller clients still primarily rely on standardized products.

Such deep customization not only optimizes memory-AI chip synergy but also enhances customer stickiness—once users adopt HBM products integrated with proprietary logic, switching to competitors becomes difficult in the short term, helping manufacturers consolidate market positions.

At press time, the company’s shares rose 4.09% on Monday, with a cumulative gain exceeding 33% over the past six months.

(Source: Google Finance)