Hong Kong Stock Concept Tracking | SK Hynix plans to double production capacity within five years, global shortage of storage chips may continue until 2030 (with concept stocks)

According to reports, on June 2, the Chairman of the South Korean SK Group, Chey Tae-won, announced that its storage chip subsidiary SK Hynix plans to double its wafer production capacity over the next five years to tackle the ongoing shortage of memory chips brought on by the construction of global artificial intelligence infrastructure. He stated that the global shortage of memory chips may persist until 2030, and the company is increasing its capital expenditure to bridge the supply-demand imbalance, but did not disclose the specific investment amount. Chey Tae-won also stated that SK Group needs to establish broader partnerships in the Chinese Taiwan region, not limited to cooperation with the world's largest chip foundry, TSMC. He hopes that SK Hynix can become the major high-bandwidth memory (HBM) supplier for NVIDIA's next-generation Vera Rubin system. The explosive growth in demand for AI computing power has ignited a "super cycle" in the storage chip industry, making it one of the most beneficial core tracks in the current technology wave. As key players in the global AI infrastructure, SK Hynix, Micron, and Samsung Electronics, have market values exceeding $1 trillion each, with SK Hynix's market value reaching over $100 billion last year. SK Hynix currently dominates the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market. According to Counterpoint Research data, in the first quarter of this year, SK Hynix held a 58% share in the global HBM market, while Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology each held 21%. Mega cloud service providers such as Meta Platforms are expected to invest trillions of dollars in data center construction, driving SK Hynix and Micron to historic market value breakthroughs. According to SEMI's forecast data, global storage revenues will surpass $550 billion in 2026, exceeding the scale of wafer manufacturing for the first time, becoming the top growth driver in the semiconductor industry; the HBM market is expected to grow by 58% to $54.6 billion, accounting for nearly 40% of the DRAM market. Industry research shows that the HBM production capacity of SK Hynix and Micron in 2026 has already been fully booked by customers, and even full deposits have been prepaid. Previously signed multi-year supply contracts will gradually enter a renewal and repricing window next year. Many institutions believe that the valuation logic of storage chips is transitioning from traditional "cyclical stocks" to "AI computing infrastructure." Benefiting from the strong demand for AI, Goldman Sachs has raised its operating profit forecasts for SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics by 24% and 23.3% respectively in 2028, to KRW 454 trillion (approximately $299.6 billion) and KRW 610 trillion. Cathay Haitong stated that in the background of rising AI storage demand, uneven original factory capacity, and downstream customers actively securing long-term supply contracts, the industry's prosperity continues to improve. The core trading logic of the storage sector will shift from the prosperity game based on price hike/decline expectations to revaluation based on profit certainty, and valuations are expected to switch from peak cycle valuations to pricing high-quality assets in AI infrastructure with long-term support and visible cash flow, driving an upward shift in industry valuation levels. Related concept stocks: Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (00981): First-quarter sales revenue was $2.505 billion, an 11.5% year-on-year increase; net profit was approximately $197 million, a 5% year-on-year increase. For the second quarter, the company issued revenue guidance for a 14% to 16% increase, and gross margin guidance of 20%-22%. HUA HONG SEMI (01347): First-quarter sales revenue reached $660.9 million, a 22.2% year-on-year increase; net profit was $20.9 million, a 458.1% year-on-year increase, and a 19.9% increase quarter-on-quarter. SHANGHAI FUDAN (01385): In the first quarter of 2026, the group achieved operating income of approximately RMB 1.032 billion, an increase of approximately 16.23% over the same period last year; achieved a net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company of approximately RMB 148 million, an increase of approximately 8.91% over the same period last year; achieved net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company excluding non-recurring gains and losses of approximately RMB 144 million, an increase of approximately 8.31% over the same period last year.