[Concall] SK Hynix "Next Year HBM Demand Exceeds Supply... Long-term Contracts Concentrated"

On the 24th, during the Q3 earnings conference call, SK Hynix stated, "Unlike general DRAM, HBM operates under a long-term contract structure, and negotiations on quantities and prices with customers for 2025 have been almost completed," adding, "Visibility on the demand side is very high." They continued, "Next year's HBM demand is expected to increase more than anticipated, as the rise in AI chip demand and customers' continuous expansion of AI investments have been confirmed."

SK Hynix explained, "Currently, AI technology is evolving not just to generate learned patterns or make predictions based on past data, but to create various possibilities and make inference-based decisions by using more computing time." They added, "Since the demand for computing power will increase further and more computational support will be needed, it is premature to judge AI or HBM demand at this point," and noted, "Moreover, the technical difficulty required for developing new HBM products is rising, and considering yield loss and customer certification, it seems challenging for the memory industry to supply products of the quality demanded by customers sufficiently and timely."

SK Hynix stated, "From the demand side, there is a high possibility of upside, and from the supply side, a high possibility of downside, so we expect the situation of demand outpacing supply to continue next year," and added, "We believe that customers signing long-term contracts for HBM, unlike general DRAM, reflects this situation."