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[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Paul Lee] SK Hynix recorded an operating loss of 2 trillion won in the second quarter of this year, continuing its deficit for three consecutive quarters. However, the deficit has been reduced due to increased shipments of advanced DRAM products such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and double data rate (DDR) 5 mounted on servers for generative artificial intelligence (AI) that are rapidly growing.
This year's HBM·DDR5 sales are expected to more than double year-on-year, exceeding 20% of total sales within the year. As major companies' production cuts are also reflected in earnest, it is expected that their performance will improve in the second half of the year.
According to related industries on the 26th, SK Hynix recorded sales of 7.3059 trillion won and operating loss of 2.8821 trillion won in the second quarter of this year. The operating loss, which began in the fourth quarter of last year (-1.8984 trillion won), continued for the third quarter. Sales also fell 47 percent on-year. This is the aftermath of the high-intensity inventory adjustment of the front industry.
However, the operating loss has decreased compared to the previous quarter (-3.4023 trillion won). SK Hynix diagnosed that the memory industry is recovering from the bottom of the first quarter. SK Hynix explained, "Sales of DRAM and NAND flash memory increased significantly in the second quarter."
In particular, shipments of high-performance and high-capacity memory products for AI servers have increased significantly due to the growth of the generative AI market represented by ChatGPT. In fact, HBM·DDR5 shipments in the second quarter more than doubled compared to the previous quarter. In other words, high-tech DRAMs, which have high prices despite falling prices of old process products such as DDR4s, have defended their earnings downwards.
SK Hynix plans to increase the proportion of DDR5 quickly instead of reducing DDR4 production, which is less profitable.
AlphaBIZ 폴 리(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
