SEOUL – The market value of South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix briefly topped that of peer Samsung Electronics on June 22 to make it the country’s most valuable firm.
Shares of SK Hynix, now the world’s most valuable memory chipmaker, traded up 5.7 per cent to bring the company’s market capitalisation to 2,082.5 trillion won (S$1.76 trillion) as of 0347 GMT, compared with gains of 0.4 per cent in Samsung Electronics to 2081.3 trillion won, excluding preferred shares.
Samsung Electronics had held the top spot since 2000.
South Korean chipmakers have posted record profits, benefitting from the rush to build AI data centres by US tech giants that have boosted demand for memory chips, constrained supply and driven up prices.
SK Hynix shares have risen more than 340 per cent in 2026 alone, outperforming Samsung’s 200 per cent jump.
In May, SK Hynix joined rivals Samsung and Micron Technology in topping US$1 trillion (S$1.3 trillion) in market value for the first time, driven by the AI rally. REUTERS
