Intraday violent surge! Good news hits the chip industry!

Storage chips surge!

On March 10th, in the South Korean stock market, storage chip giants SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics both saw their stock prices soar. During trading, SK Hynix’s gains exceeded 13% at one point, while Samsung Electronics rose over 10%.

That day, A-share storage chip concept stocks also rallied collectively, with the sector index increasing by over 2%. By midday, Lianrui New Materials surged over 17%, Borun New Materials and Kexiang Co. rose over 10%.

From the news perspective, multiple positive developments have emerged in the global storage chip industry chain: First, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics were selected as suppliers for NVIDIA’s new Vera Rubin HBM4, with shipments expected to start this month; second, SK Hynix announced today that it has developed an advanced LPDDR6 DRAM product tailored for mobile devices with AI capabilities; third, on Monday, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang called on DRAM manufacturers to expand production, stating, “Buy as much as you can.”

Storage Chip Concept Stocks Rally Strongly

After days of fluctuation, the global storage chip concept stocks have made a strong comeback. During today’s trading, SK Hynix’s stock rose over 13%, and Samsung Electronics’ stock increased over 10%. Overnight in the U.S. stock market, storage-related stocks also surged collectively, with SanDisk up over 11%, Western Digital up nearly 7%, and Micron Technology up over 5%.

The A-share storage chip sector also saw significant gains today. By midday, the sector index rose over 2%, with Lianrui New Materials up 17.65%, Borun New Materials up over 14%, Kexiang Co. up over 10%, Juguang Technology up over 9%, Yishitong up over 8%, Weice Technology and Tianma New Materials up over 7%, and Tai Chi Industrial, Nanya New Materials, and Koma Technology also performing well.

Analysts pointed out that the recent correction in international oil prices has eased market concerns about inflation, which is favorable for growth stocks. Additionally, multiple positive news in the storage chip industry has significantly boosted market sentiment.

According to Korean media reports, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have both been shortlisted as suppliers for NVIDIA’s next-generation AI accelerator Vera Rubin. Since HBM4 takes over six months from wafer to final packaging, both companies expect to start production as early as this month.

The reports indicate that although the allocation and pricing of HBM4 used in Vera Rubin are not yet finalized, sources expect SK Hynix to hold over half of NVIDIA’s total HBM supply by 2026, including HBM3E, while Samsung Electronics will dominate the supply of Vera Rubin’s dedicated HBM4. TrendForce forecasts that SK Hynix will continue to lead global HBM bit production with a 50% share (down from 59% in 2025), and Samsung Electronics’ share will rise from 20% to 28%.

Notably, NVIDIA reportedly requires the data transfer rate of HBM4 used in Vera Rubin to exceed 10Gb/s, well above the JEDEC industry standard of 8Gb/s. Samsung Electronics has successfully passed NVIDIA’s certification tests at 10Gb/s and 11Gb/s levels, while SK Hynix is still optimizing its products to meet the 11Gb/s test.

Additionally, on Tuesday, SK Hynix announced that it has developed an advanced LPDDR6 DRAM product designed specifically for mobile devices with AI capabilities.

SK Hynix stated that the 16Gb LPDDR6 DRAM based on the sixth-generation 10nm process technology was showcased at CES 2026 in January and has completed verification. The manufacturer said in a statement, “SK Hynix plans to complete mass production preparations in the first half of this year and begin supply in the second half, expanding our traditional DRAM product line optimized for AI applications.”

The company added that this new product will be used in mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets equipped with AI features. Compared to the previous generation, the new product’s data processing speed has increased by 33%. It will also help consumers enjoy longer battery life and more efficient multitasking.

Industry Chain Rumors of Price Hikes Persist

According to Global Times citing Korean media Sedaily, the global NAND flash memory market has recently experienced a continuous price increase. Samsung Electronics, the market leader, announced plans to raise the prices of core NAND products again in Q2 2025, with the increase expected to be similar to that in Q1.

It is understood that Samsung Electronics raised NAND flash memory prices by about 100% in Q1 this year compared to the previous quarter. If the same increase continues in Q2, NAND prices will have risen approximately 200% since the end of last year. Industry insiders say that although final transaction prices for different customers may vary slightly, the overall price increase announced by Samsung is unlikely to change significantly.

Not only Samsung Electronics, but the entire NAND flash industry’s price hike expectations are heating up. A senior semiconductor industry executive revealed that current storage chip manufacturers have reached historic high bargaining power, with downstream demand companies mostly passively accepting quotes. Leading manufacturers like SK Hynix and Kioxia are also preparing to further raise NAND product prices. Market data supports this trend: TrendForce reports that last month, the average fixed transaction price of 128Gb MLC NAND flash chips rose to $12.67, up 33.9% month-on-month and a staggering 452.3% year-on-year.

The ongoing rise in NAND flash prices is driven by multiple market factors. On one hand, the development of AI has entered a critical phase, evolving from data training to inference, increasing demand for large-scale data storage and highlighting the industry value of NAND storage. Meanwhile, major tech companies are increasing investments in AI data centers, directly boosting demand for storage devices and pushing NAND prices higher.

On the other hand, tightening supply has also contributed to the price increase. The top two NAND manufacturers, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, are shifting production focus toward high-value semiconductor products like HBM, significantly reducing NAND output. Under supply-demand imbalance, industry analysts expect NAND prices to remain on an upward trend in the short term.

On Monday, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang called on global storage chip manufacturers, saying, “Buy as much as you can, even with expansion.”

During the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference, Huang stated that the chip supply shortage is “great news” for NVIDIA, as resource constraints will encourage customers to choose the most powerful solutions directly. He told DRAM makers, “Whatever capacity you expand, we will use it.”