SK Hynix reported a dramatic 160% increase in U.S. sales last year as soaring demand for artificial intelligence chips drove record performance for the South Korean memory manufacturer.
The company’s American subsidiary recorded sales of 33.49 trillion won ($23 billion) in 2023, up from 12.54 trillion won the previous year, according to a March 4 regulatory filing. Net profit reached 104.9 billion won ($71.9 million).
The U.S. market has become increasingly crucial for SK Hynix, accounting for 58% of its global revenue through the third quarter of 2023. This growth stems primarily from heightened demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), enterprise solid-state drives, and next-generation DDR5 memory from major technology companies.
HBM products, specialized memory solutions optimized for AI applications, contributed over 40% of SK Hynix’s total DRAM sales in the fourth quarter. The company has already sold out its entire HBM allocation for 2024.
To capitalize on sustained AI momentum, SK Hynix plans to increase production of its fifth-generation HBM3E 12-layer products while introducing 16-layer variants in the first half of 2024. The chipmaker will also launch its sixth-generation custom HBM4 products in the latter half of the year.
The strong U.S. performance helped drive SK Hynix to record results overall, with the company posting total sales of 66.19 trillion won and operating profit of 23.47 trillion won for 2023.
