In the first quarter of this year, more than half of SK hynix's DRAM revenue came from high-bandwidth memory (HBM). HBM accounted for over 40% of total DRAM sales. Notably, this year, as sales of the advanced HBM3E (5th generation) products increased for the 12-layer version, which is more profitable than the 8-layer version, the profit share from HBM is expected to rise further.
According to the '2025 Q1 Memory Report' recently released by global market research firm Counterpoint Research on the 13th, the share of HBM in SK hynix's total DRAM shipments was only 14%, but it accounted for 44% and 54% of DRAM revenue and operating profit, respectively.
In the first quarter of this year, SK hynix's revenue was 17.6391 trillion won, with 80% (approximately 14.1112 trillion won) coming from DRAM sales. Based on its strong market dominance, SK hynix achieved about 6.289 trillion won in revenue solely from HBM.
Although operating profit is not disclosed by product, considering that DRAM constitutes a significant portion of the company's operating profit due to its business structure, it is estimated that at least about 3 trillion won of the operating profit (7.4405 trillion won) in the first quarter was generated from HBM.
Despite the HBM shipment share being in the 10% range, the high percentage of revenue and operating profit is due to its substantial profitability. Jeong Jeong-gu, a senior researcher at Counterpoint, noted, "On a single wafer basis, 16Gb DDR5 can produce about 1,700 chips, while 24Gb HBM3E can produce fewer than 600. Assuming each has a yield of 90% and 60%, respectively, DDR5 can produce about three times more Gb than HBM3E."
He explained, "However, in terms of revenue, the price per Gb of HBM3E is more than four times that of DDR5, so the revenue per wafer for HBM3E is approximately 45% higher than that of DDR5."
The share of HBM in DRAM is expected to expand further this year. Earlier, SK hynix announced in its Q1 performance report in April that it plans to double HBM revenue compared to the previous year and that more than half of the total HBM3E shipments in the second quarter will be sold as HBM3E 12-layer products. The price of HBM3E 12-layer is known to be about 50-60% more expensive than that of HBM3E 8-layer.
Meanwhile, according to Counterpoint, in the first quarter of this year, SK hynix, bolstered by HBM, surpassed Samsung Electronics to claim the top spot in the DRAM market for the first time in 33 years. During this period, SK hynix had a market share of 36%, while Samsung Electronics and U.S. Micron had shares of 34% and 25%, respectively.