财联社·2025-10-30 05:57Core Viewpoint - The global memory chip industry is experiencing a significant boom driven by the AI surge led by companies like Nvidia and OpenAI, resulting in explosive growth for major manufacturers such as Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron Technology, and Seagate [1][4]. Group 1: Industry Performance - TrendForce predicts that the revenue from DRAM, a major type of storage chip, will reach approximately $231 billion in 2024, more than four times the low point of 2023 [4]. - Samsung Electronics reported a 21% year-on-year increase in net profit for Q3, reaching about $8.6 billion, with its chip division achieving record quarterly revenue and an operating profit growth of nearly 80% to around $4.9 billion [7]. - SK Hynix announced a record net profit of approximately $8.8 billion for Q3, stating that the storage market has entered a "super boom cycle" with all production capacity sold out for next year [7]. - Micron Technology's latest quarterly report showed a net profit increase of over three times to $3.2 billion, while Seagate's Q1 revenue reached $2.63 billion, a 21% year-on-year growth [7]. Group 2: Demand for Memory Types - The demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), essential for AI model training, has surged, with OpenAI's monthly demand for DRAM wafers expected to reach 900,000, exceeding current industry HBM capacity by more than double [8][11]. - Traditional memory chips are also in high demand, as major data center companies like Amazon, Google, and Meta Platforms are purchasing them for conventional servers, leading to a supply crunch [11]. - Traditional memory chips are useful for AI inference tasks, making them relevant despite the focus on HBM [11]. Group 3: Market Outlook - SK Hynix anticipates that the HBM market will grow at an average rate of over 30% annually over the next five years, which is considered a conservative estimate [13]. - The current memory supply tightness is expected to persist until at least 2026, with some projections extending to early 2027 [13]. - The semiconductor industry is known for its extreme boom and bust cycles, with the last significant downturn occurring during the early pandemic when demand dropped sharply [13].