SK Hynix Q4 profit surges four-fold on robust chip shipments

SEOUL: SK Hynix, the world’s No.2 memory chip maker, posted a 298% jump in fourth-quarter profit, ahead of expectations, as a better-than-expected rise in chip shipments offset lower chip prices and forecast solid demand this year.

For 2021, SK Hynix said demand for server and mobile DRAM products, which go into devices, will remain high as global companies invest in new data centers and due to brisk 5G smartphone shipments. But supplies are expected to fall short of demand as the industry will see limited supply increase, the company said.

In NAND memory chips that serve the data storage market, it expected the market to recover from the second half of the year, as customers use up inventory and start to ramp of their adoption of high-capacity chips.