From Yahoo Finance: 2025-03-26 22:23:00

SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker, notes customers are accelerating orders ahead of new U.S. tariffs on semiconductors. The company anticipates a decline in shipments in the first quarter but sees recent market conditions as favorable. However, it remains uncertain if this trend will continue.

In response to robust demand from the AI market, U.S. chipmakers Micron and SanDisk, along with China’s YMTC, have raised memory chip prices. President Trump plans to impose tariffs on semiconductors, prompting preemptive transfers of inventory to the U.S., potentially leading to higher prices and reduced demand.

SK Hynix, a key supplier to Nvidia, predicts “explosive growth” in high bandwidth memory chip demand this year. The company expects sales of its HBM chips to double, with plans to finalize sales for 2026 volume by the first half of this year. The emergence of DeepSeek is seen as a positive for long-term AI memory chip demand, according to SK Hynix’s CEO.

Read more: SK Hynix says some customers brought forward orders ahead of US tariffs