Samsung and SK hynix control roughly 83% of HBM revenue as AI data centers intensify competition for memory chips
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The meeting, which took place at Samsung’s Resources Development Center in Yongin on Saturday, October 30, brought together chiefs from the company’s financial, electronics, and biotechnology businesses. Confirming the meeting, Samsung Korea said the discussion revolved around strengthening existing relationships between the two companies, particularly a letter of Intent signed in October 20225 to cooperate on global AI infrastructure, including supplying memory semiconductors for OpenAI’s Stargate project . “The Samsung executives and CEO Sam Altman discussed the direction of AI technology development and its potential applications, as well as new markets and business opportunities that will emerge from it,” Samsung stated.
Samsung, however, emphasized more on AI transformation and future business opportunities, rather than announcing a new memory supply agreement. Reportedly, Altman also presented Samsung’s AI Center head with a Codex Micro Keyboard , a device designed for use with OpenAI’s coding agent. The latest meeting comes as demand from AI centers continues to soar, with AMD forecasting DRAM revenue will jump 177% in 2026 to about $416 billion. Trendforce also estimates DRAM supply will fall 1% to 2% short of demand this year, with the imbalance expected to worsen in 2027. New manufacturing capacity may take time to come, which means the shortage could persist into 2028, as per a recent warning by Micron.
For now, demand for data centers is facing major competition, especially from PCs, smartphones, and other electronics, for limited memory supplies (and may be nowhere close to peaking). High-bandwidth memory (HBM), a specialized form of DRAM used in AI devices, has become particularly important as companies deploy increasingly powerful computing systems.
Samsung and SK Hynix are among the world's leading memory manufacturers, giving South Korea a central role in supplying the hardware behind the AI expansion. According to Counterpoint Research , both companies controlled about 63% of global DRAM revenues in the second quarter of 2026. Their influence is greater in HBM, where the two South Korean manufacturers accounted for roughly 83% of global revenue. This has prompted other technology executives to approach the country, with AMD CEO Lisa Su visiting earlier this month to discuss securing additional HBM supplies from SAMSUNG, saying, "It is important to plan three to five years ahead with our partners."
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/sam-altman-travels-to-south-korea-to-meet-samsung-leadership-to-secure-more-ram-for-data-centers-amid-crushing-shortages-openai-ceo-meets-samsung-leadership-to-discuss-future-ai-data-centers#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
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