Note that presentations will be interpreted simultaneously in a Q&A session with consecutive interpretation. With that, we are now ready to begin.
Good morning, afternoon, and evening. This is Park Seong-hwan, Head of IR at SK hynix. Welcome to the SK hynix 2026 first quarter earnings release conference call. Allow me to introduce the executives present here with me today. We're joined by CFO, Kim Woo-hyun, Head of DRAM Marketing, Park Joon-deok, Head of NAND Marketing, Song Chang-seok, and HBM Sales and Marketing Head, Kim Gi-tae. Let me issue a disclaimer that our first quarter results included in this conference call are consolidated figures and provisional in nature, as the external auditor's review has not yet been completed. Accordingly, they remain subject to change. In addition, forward-looking statements, including market outlook and the company's plans, may vary depending on changes in macroeconomic and market circumstances.
With that, we will now begin SK hynix earnings release conference call for first quarter of 2026. CFO Kim Woo-hyun will first present the earnings, followed by the company's future plans and market outlook, and the Q&A session with the attending executives.
Good morning, everyone. This is CFO Kim Woo-hyun. Allow me to first introduce the company's performance for the first quarter of 2026. Although the first quarter is typically a seasonally slow period, robust demand driven by expanding AI infrastructure investment more than offset seasonality, and the supply environment remained tight. As a result, prices for both DRAM and NAND rose meaningfully, led in particular by server DRAM and enterprise SSDs. Accordingly, first quarter revenue increased by 60% QoQ and 198% YoY to KRW 52.6 trillion, surpassing KRW 50 trillion mark for the first time on a quarterly basis and setting a new record high for quarterly revenue.
Starting with DRAM, shipments in Q1 were similar to Q4 levels, in line with our previous guidance. Within our supply capabilities, we focused sales on products with robust demand, including HBM and high-density server modules of 128 GB and above, while ASP rose by mid-60% as the strength in conventional DRAM pricing accelerated. For NAND, shipments declined by approximately 10% QoQ, reflecting a high base from the previous quarter's sales, as well as reduced discrete product sales and longer production lead times associated with the shift in mix toward high value-added products, where demand is rising rapidly. On the other hand, ASP rose sharply by mid-70%, supported by strong pricing in all product lines. As rising prices across both DRAM and NAND coincided with a greater contribution from high value-added products, first quarter operating profit reached KRW 37.6 trillion, increasing nearly two-fold from that of the previous quarter.
Operating margin also improved by 13 percentage points QoQ to 72%, marking another all-time high on a quarterly basis. In the first quarter, depreciation and amortization totaled KRW 3.7 trillion, EBITDA came in at KRW 41.3 trillion, and EBITDA margin was 79%. Net non-operating profit reached KRW 14 trillion, reflecting, among other factors, foreign exchange-related net gain of KRW 1.6 trillion due to the rise in exchange rates and valuation gains on investment assets of KRW 9.9 trillion. Accordingly, pre-tax profit was KRW 51.6 trillion, net profit was KRW 40.3 trillion, and net profit margin was 77%. As of the end of the first quarter, cash and cash equivalents, including short-term investments, stood at KRW 54.3 trillion, an increase of KRW 19.4 trillion from the end of the previous quarter, while interest-bearing debt declined by KRW 2.9 trillion to KRW 19.3 trillion.
As a result, the company recorded net cash of KRW 35 trillion, and the debt-to-equity ratio at the end of the first quarter improved by 6 percentage points from the end of the previous quarter to 12%. Now let me share our market outlook. AI technology is now evolving rapidly beyond the training phase of large-scale models into the inference and agentic AI stage, where user requests are processed in real time across a wide range of service environments. Accordingly, AI workloads are shifting from simple question and answer tests to more complex processes that involve planning, execution, and verification repeated until the optimal result is achieved. As the volume of data generated by AI agents at each stage continues to increase, demand is rising for a broad range of memory products to process and store such data efficiently.
Beyond demand for high-performance memory like HBM, the total volume of memory required across overall systems is also increasing, including server DRAM modules and enterprise SSDs. As a result, the demand base is broadening for both DRAM and NAND. In addition, ongoing software and hardware optimization efforts across the AI industry are serving as another driver of memory demand growth. While memory efficiency technology may appear to reduce memory usage per device, in practice, it is evolving in a way that maximizes the amount of context that is handled per unit of memory and the number of users. This is expected to improve the economics of AI services, expand the overall market, and create a virtual cycle that further drives memory demand.
Meanwhile, in the PC and mobile markets, some signs of demand softening have emerged, including adjustments in such shipments and changes in product portfolios due to cost pressures stemming from higher memory prices. However, robust server memory demand continues to offset this weakness and is driving overall market growth. As memory becomes increasingly critical in AI computing, demand for high-performance memory is surging while supply remains constrained. Amid this supply-demand imbalance, customers are prioritizing securing volume over pricing, which is sustaining the current pricing strength. Accordingly, we expect a favorable pricing environment to continue for the time being. Next, I will discuss the company's plans. For the second quarter, we plan to actively respond to demand for high-density server modules and mobile products, with DRAM shipments expected to increase by high single-digit percent QoQ.
For NAND, we expect shipments to increase by mid- 15 % QoQ through expanded sales of 321-layer-based products and enterprise SSDs. In the HBM business, where we are leading the market, competitiveness is determined not only by DRAM process technology, but also by a combination of diverse technological capabilities, including TSV and packaging. In addition, comprehensive execution capabilities in compressing performance, yield, quality, and supply stability are critical. Therefore, we are concentrating our efforts on further strengthening these capabilities. For HBM4, we have been working closely with customers from the early stages of development, and we plan to ramp up volume in line with the agreed schedule of products that meet the customer's required performance levels. In response to increasingly diverse memory requirements driven by the evolution of AI technology, we continue to develop and supply new products across both DRAM and NAND.
In DRAM, during the first quarter, we completed development of the industry's first 1c nm-based LPDDR6. Compared with existing LPDDR5X, the product delivers a 33% improvement in data processing speed and more than 20% better power efficiency. We plan to begin full-scale market supply in the second half, starting with adoption in a major smartphone customer's next generation flagship model. In addition, we began mass production this month of our 192 GB SOCAMM2 product based on our most advanced 1c nm process. Optimized for NVIDIA's Vera Rubin platform, this product delivers more than twice the bandwidth of conventional RDIMM and over 75% improved energy efficiency. For NAND, as demand for high-performance, high-density storage continues to expand in earnest, we will proactively capture growth opportunities. First, we have begun supply of PQC21 client SSD, the first product from our company to adopt CTF-based 321-layer QLC technology.
Starting with the client segment, we plan to build a well-balanced product line-up across the entire enterprise market, spanning high-performance TLC and high-capacity QLC in order to respond flexibly to broad-based AI demand. In particular, based on synergies with Solidigm, which has strength in high-capacity QLC enterprise SSDs, we will further strengthen our competitiveness in addressing a wide range of customer needs in the AI data center and AI PC storage markets. As customer demand continues to exceed our supply capabilities, securing sufficient supply capacity to respond to structural demand growth in the AI era is emerging as a core competitive advantage. Accordingly, our CapEx this year is expected to increase significantly compared with last year, with the majority allocated to infrastructure preparation centered on the Yongin cluster and ramp-up of M15X and to the procurement of key equipment such as EUV tools.
Given that semiconductor manufacturing infrastructure takes several years from initial construction to actual operation, and that securing key equipment also involves substantial lead times, we will strategically secure the production base needed to respond proactively to meet long-term demand growth. While adhering to CapEx discipline, we will execute investments based on demand visibility, thereby ensuring both supply stability and financial soundness. Lastly, let me address our financial soundness targets and shareholder return policy. The memory market is facing an unprecedented growth opportunity at the center of the AI era. Given the high return on investment demonstrated by our first quarter results, we believe that reinvesting the cash we generate back into the business is currently the best use of capital.
Therefore, we will strengthen our financial soundness to secure the foundation for long-term growth so that we can continue to execute the investments that are strategically necessary over the long term under any market conditions. Considering our all-time high profit generation, we believe that achieving financial soundness with net cash of more than KRW 100 trillion and expanding shareholder returns are goals that can be pursued in parallel. In addition to dividend, we will also actively review additional shareholder return measures, such as share buybacks and cancellations, and establish an implementation plan within the year. Meanwhile, on March 24, we confidentially submitted a registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission related to the proposed ADR offering, and we are proceeding with the goal of listing on the U.S. securities markets within the year.
However, specific details of the proposed offering, including its size, structure and timing, have not yet been determined, and a final decision on whether to proceed with the listing will be made after comprehensively considering the SEC's review of the registration statement, market conditions, investor demand and other relevant factors. We will provide further updates once specific details are finalized. Going forward, we will continue striving to enhance shareholder value by maintaining the optimal balance among investment for future growth, financial soundness and expanded shareholder returns. With that, we are now ready to take your questions.
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Now Q&A session will begin. Please press star one, that is star and one, if you have any questions. Questions will be taken according to the order you have pressed the number star one. For cancellation, please press star two, that is star and two on your phone. The first question will be provided by Rok-ho Kim from Hana Securities. Please go ahead with your question.
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Thank you for taking my question. Now my question is, the memory spot prices have been on a steep upward trend, but are now showing some signs of weakness. Some are concerned that this may be a signal of a peakout with the demand beginning to soften due to the price burden. Does the company see this as just a temporary adjustment caused by short-term supply and demand factors? What is the company's view?
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Now we understand that there are various interpretations in the market regarding the recent spot price movements. Let me share with you the company's perspective.
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F irst of all, the spot market itself takes up a very small part of the overall DRAM market, and the types and volume of products that are traded there differ considerably from our business. We can't really view these changes in the spot market as reflective of the overall market.
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Now on one hand, we see that the memory demand from our major customers is increasing across the board, including HBM, server DRAM and eSSD. On the other hand, for the suppliers, the reality is that the suppliers find it hard-pressed to increase supply in the short term.
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As such, supply-demand imbalance persists, the rising memory price cycle is likely to last longer than in the past.
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The moderate trend in spot prices, rather than being a sign of market peak out, appears to be a temporary phenomenon resulting from some inventory entering the market from some distribution channels due to the recent price increase.
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The following question will be presented by Sun-woo Kim from Meritz Securities. Please go ahead with your question.
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Thank you very much. The prior question was about the spot price, and my question is more about the overall price cycle, because at this time it seems as if the unprecedented super cycle is driving up the memory prices. What is the company's outlook on the memory price trends down the road?
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Now, we see that the current price strength is driven by structural changes in the market, not by the temporary supply demand imbalance. That is why we also expect that this trend to be different.
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First, the importance of memory has grown more than ever due to AI, and IT companies are competitively increasing their purchase to secure more memory supply.
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On the other hand, industry supply has been constrained by investment slowdown following the last downturn and also by the shortage of available space, which limits the potential for production expansion for the short term.
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Suppliers are expanding their investment by resuming fab construction and infrastructure investment to secure ramp up capacity. It will take some time to complete meaningful new clean rooms and production capacity.
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As this supply demand imbalance persists, customers are prioritizing procurement over price, and the growing importance of memory in AI computing is also being priced in. Therefore, the favorable pricing environment is expected to continue for the time being.
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Thank you. Next question, please.
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The following question will be presented by Nicolas Gaudois from UBS. Please go ahead with your question.
Yes, good morning. Thanks for taking my question. Could you provide us an update on the current progress on your enhanced new long-term agreements and the timeline for the expansion? Could you specify how do they differ from past LTAs, whether they apply to DDR, NAND Flash, and HBM or like, or mostly DDR? Could you share the specific terms and conditions to the extent you can disclose them? Thank you.
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Thank you very much for the question, and yes, I will try to explain to the extent possible. Now, as the memory shortage persists, customer requests to secure medium to long term supply volumes have significantly increased.
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Memory today has become so critical that customers now see memory price and supply uncertainties as key business risks. For the company as well, reducing investment burden by securing demand visibility is one of our key priorities.
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A multi-year LTA must provide business stability for both parties by ensuring supply stability to the customer and demand visibility and stable revenue structure to the seller.
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Accordingly, unlike past LTAs, we are comprehensively reviewing various approaches and structural options, but due to current supply constraints, we are limited from accommodating all customer requests.
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If multi-year LTAs are successfully established, we expect investment efficiency to naturally improve thanks to demand visibility and stable profitability.
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Not only that, it can also reduce the volatility that has repeatedly plagued the memory industry, which can improve the market's overall view on the memory business as well.
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Thank you. Next question, please.
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The following question will be presented by SK Kim from Daiwa Securities. Please go ahead with your question.
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Thank you for taking my question. Thank you for the excellent presentation, and congratulations. Now, my question is about the memory or the AI technologies, and I believe that it was also mentioned during the presentation, but then we see that efforts today continue to develop technology and products to improve memory efficiency to address the recent memory shortage. There are also concerns that such trend could dampen memory demand. What is the company's outlook on this?
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Now, as the AI inference market grows rapidly, it is true that new technologies are emerging to process the exponentially increasing volume of data. The company believes that these technological advancements will broaden the AI ecosystem and ultimately serve as the catalyst for driving overall memory demand.
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Some suggest that LPUs using SRAM could serve as a memory alternative. Unlike GPUs, LPUs operate primarily by using the internal SRAM, which makes them very fast, but also limits the physical capacity. It is highly likely that we move toward a hybrid architecture where LPUs handle tasks requiring fast response and HBM-based GPUs handle complex and massive computations. In other words, as AI services diversify, memory will become increasingly tiered, and demand for high performance memory is expected to continue.
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At the same time, with the recent introduction of technologies that optimize KV cache by compressing data, there has been speculation that memory demand might decrease. The intent of this technology is not to use less memory, but to use the same memory more efficiently to provide a wider variety of AI technologies and services. To process longer context and perform more concurrent inferences, more memory is required. As AI services become more widespread, memory demand is expected to increase.
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While memory optimization technologies have been steadily emerging, the overall trend has been towards diversifying the AI market, lowering barriers to entry and expanding the market's overall size. In response to the diversifying needs, we will continue to solidify our market leadership by supplying world-class AI memory products in a timely manner.
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Thank you for the response, and we will take the next question.
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The following question will be presented by Ricky Seo from HSBC. Please go ahead with your question.
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Thank you for taking my question, and also congratulations on the outstanding performance. My question is about HBM4. Now, regarding the HBM4 qualification and mass production, it seems as if the market views currently remain mixed. What is the update on HBM4 qualification and the expected timing for full scale shipment? If possible, by the end of this year, what is the company's expectation about the HBM4's share out of the total HBM?
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Thank you very much for the question. Now from the customer's perspective, HBM is a business where overall competitiveness is seen to be more important than any single factors like performance metrics, such as speed and power efficiency, or quality yield or supply stability.
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For our HBM4, we have established a proactive development and supply system in close collaboration with major customers from the early stage. We are getting ready to ramp up production and supply products that meet customers' requirements in a timely manner, in line with each customer's mass production schedule.
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Since the launch of HBM2E, we have maintained the highest level of overall product competitiveness in time to market, cost, yield, and performance, as well as customers' trust. We have built on that basis to keep strengthening our technological leadership and lead the market with next generation products such as HBM4 and HBM4E. It is evidenced by the fact that customers' demand for the next three years far exceeds our current supply capacity.
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Within the limited supply capacity, we are doing our best to supply as much HBM as possible to our customers. Given the severe supply shortage affecting not only HBM but also the general purpose DRAM, we are trying to achieve optimal allocation between HBM and general DRAM for the sake of balanced growth in the AI ecosystem, rather than trying to maximize revenue.
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Moving forward, we will sustain our market leadership based on our product capabilities, including HBM3E and HBM4.
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Thank you. We'll take the next question.
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The following question will be presented by Young-min Ko from DAOL Investment & Securities. Please go ahead with your question.
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Thank you for taking my question, which is about investment. Now, recently we see other companies are announcing aggressive investment expansion. Does the company also plan to expand investment to maintain market share and competitiveness? On the other hand, it is understandable if there are some concerns about past oversupply issues recurring. I wonder what the company's view would be regarding investment and also about such concerns.
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Now, thank you very much for the question. The company's policy is to execute investment with CapEx discipline, taking demand visibility into account.
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Now, given the current sustained robust demand for memory, we expect investment in 2026 to increase significantly YoY to prepare future infrastructure and secure key equipment to meet demand.
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Namely, we are rapidly proceeding with the construction of the Yongin cluster fab to secure mid- to- long term production capacity. After completion of Phase 1 early next year, we plan to execute investment in stages to complete Phases 2 through 6.
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In addition, we plan to move ahead as scheduled with investment in the equipment necessary for the migration to advance processes through next year.
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As you can see, we are actively expanding supply to meet customer demand, for example, increasing our investment. Also at the same time, it appears that supply will remain short of demand for the time being. For the time being, the supply will fall short of the structurally increasing demand.
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That is also why we are closely monitoring demand changes by strengthening our customer intelligence system and continuously reviewing supply demand environment against the medium to long-term demand visibility secured through our long-term customer relations. Now, at this time, both customers and suppliers agree on the importance of securing long-term visibility into supply and demand. There should be no major concerns about oversupply as in the past.
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Thank you. We'll take the next question.
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The following question will be presented by Jay Kwon from JP Morgan. Please go ahead with your question.
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Now, in the opening presentation, it was also mentioned that the enterprise SSD demand is also growing. With demand driven by AI expected to fuel rapid growth in NAND demand as well, then what is SK hynix's plan to meet future market demand?
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Yes. As it was rightly observed, NAND is no longer a simple storage device, but a core component that determines computational speed and efficiency, and it is also projected for long-term growth.
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Now, as AI models develop further, the volume of intermediate data processing, known as KV cache, is increasing exponentially. That is why customers are now adopting high performance, high capacity eSSDs on a large scale. The company plans to actively address this demand by strengthening our technological capabilities and expanding production capacity, even under the constraints of limited supply and investment conditions.
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First, in April this year, we developed the world's first 321-layer QLC and completed customer qualification, securing an overwhelming technological lead. Looking ahead, we aim to flexibly address the increasingly tiered AI storage demand by establishing an optimal product lineup that covers both high performance and high capacity. We will ultimately further strengthen our eSSD-centric product mix to proactively address market changes driven by the growth in KV cache. We are also accelerating our tech migration. To maximize bit production, we plan to migrate more than 50% of our domestic production to 321-layer technology by the end of this year. This two-generation jump from 176-layer to 321-layer is expected to yield significant productivity gain for the company.
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As the growth potential continues to strengthen in the NAND market, along with the AI market, we plan to expand our influence within the NAND market through flexible and proactive investment in line with market conditions.
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Thank you. Next question, please.
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The following question will be presented by Ryu Young-ho from NH Investment & Securities. Please go ahead with your question.
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Congratulations on the performance, and thank you for taking my question. My question is more about the long-term view. As the AI industry continues to develop with growing need for computation, it seems as if there are growing demand for other applicability and purposes for memory. The question is then, for the company, how is the company preparing for such next generation and memory market post HBM?
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Thank you for the question about the next generation memory. I will respond to the question about DRAM and the other will follow up with the question on NAND. Now, as we see, the AI market continues to grow, new platforms are emerging, and technologies are creating a multi-tiered memory architecture and broadening application areas, leading to increasingly diversified demand for AI memory.
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The company is closely following these technological developments and customer needs, trying to identify them early on, and are systematically preparing to respond to the next generation AI memory market in a timely manner.
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First, we plan to begin mass production and supply of our 192 GB SOCAMM2 product based on 1c nm LPDDR5X starting this month. This product delivers more than twice the bandwidth and over 75% improved energy efficiency over existing RDIMMs, making it optimal for high-performance AI computing.
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As the demand for inference grows, there is the CXL pooling solution, which can serve as one option for offloading the rapidly increasing KV cache. Building on our first generation CXL memory modules based on CXL 2.0, which completed customer qualification last year, we aim to maintain our leadership in this emerging market by delivering enhanced capacity and performance in our second generation products that support CXL 3.0.
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In fact, we already signed an MOU with a cloud provider last year to validate and optimize next generation AI solutions, such as CXL and PIM, in real AI service environments to be used as the starting point to actively expand our technical partnerships with global customers.
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Meanwhile, in NAND, we are preparing next generation storage solutions to build high performance, high bandwidth, and high capacity storage infrastructure tailored for AI workloads. In particular, HBF is a technology that can deliver ultra high bandwidth through 3D stacking, and we launched a consortium last February to standardize its specifications. Looking ahead, we aim to continue to lead new markets, not only in DRAM, but also in NAND, through the push for global standardization and commercialization of HBF.
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We will continue to develop optimized memory solutions that are right for the AI environment, like Edge AI and Physical AI, and we will continue to strive to further solidify the AI memory leadership that we have established through HBM.
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Thank you. Next question, please.
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The following question will be presented by Peter Lee from Citigroup. Please go ahead with your question.
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Thank you very much. My question is also about the next generation product. We just got an update on the HBM4, and there is also growing interest in the market about the next generation, the HBM4E. The question is, now, what are the key factors that will contribute to the company's technological competitiveness in the HBM4E? And also, how can you differentiate from other companies? And please also explain the packaging technology and logic die deployment plan.
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Thank you for the question. Now, for the HBM4E, we are preparing it in close consultation with our customers regarding the shipment schedule and product specifications. Our internal plan is to start supplying samples in the second half of the year, and we are moving ahead smoothly with development, targeting mass production in 2027.
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First, the Base Die to be used in HBM4E is under development based on the optimal technology to meet customer performance requirements, and the work is moving on smoothly in collaboration with our customers.
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The core die will adopt 1c nm technology to meet growing customer performance requirements. Our 1c nm technology is proven to deliver industry-leading performance. Mass production began in late 2025, and both yield and mass production capabilities have already reached a mature stage. This will help us supply HBM4E to customers with stable performance and volume.
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We plan to develop HBM4E in a timely manner, through further technology internalization and customer validation and to keep maintaining our leadership in HBM technology through unparalleled mass production capabilities and product quality.
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Thank you. We will take the next question.
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The following question will be presented by Jongw ook Lee from Samsung Securities. Please go ahead with your question.
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Thank you for taking my question. Now, there was a response about investment earlier, and my question is more specifically about infrastructure investment. What is the operational direction for the Y1 Fab, which is scheduled to open early next year? And also, are there any plans by the company to build or acquire additional fabs outside of Yongin to secure medium to long term production capacity?
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To meet the medium to long term demand, we have decided to speed up the opening of the Phase 1 Clean Room in Fab 1 by three months from May 2027 to February 2027. Construction of the Yongin Fab is progressing on schedule.
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The Yongin cluster will become the largest state-of-the-art production complex in history and will serve as the bedrock of our mid- to- long term operations. Phase 1 is to produce DRAM, and we intend to continuously review the products and technologies to be deployed in Phases 2 through 6 to ensure efficient operations that are aligned with market demand.
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Now, at this point, we have no plans to build or acquire additional fabs outside Yongin. We also recognize that the ability to reliably supply the products that the customers want when they want them is emerging as a key competitive advantage in the AI era, which means securing large scale production capacity and a stable supply system is more important than ever before.
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We will keep making every preparation necessary to respond flexibly to the global memory demand growth over the medium to long term.
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Thank you. We'll take the next question.
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The following question will be presented by Simon Woo from Bank of America. Please go ahead with your question.
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Thank you. My question is about the commodities that SK hynix requires. For example, the helium and bromine that are dependent on the Middle East, tungsten that is imported from China and also LNG that is used for self-power generation by SK hynix. With regards to the shortage of these materials, what is the impact on the company and what is the company's strategy to secure the supply over the longer term? If you could provide us with an overall update about the commodities front.
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Now, based on past experience in international conflicts, we are fully aware of the risks associated with commodities and energy supply resulting from geopolitical changes, and we have already secured our responses.
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As for the key industrial gases like helium and bromine, we have already diversified our suppliers, and we also have built up sufficient inventory as well. Any short term or long term impact on our production capacity will be quite limited.
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For tungsten, it is true that the prices have risen due to geopolitical issues recently. We already have secured sufficient inventory and there appear to be no disruptions in supply. There is no impact on our production.
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Regarding electricity, energy prices have risen due to delays in oil and LNG exports. We source LNG through long-term agreements, which keep any price fluctuations to the minimum and any impact on our business will be limited.
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We will continue to closely monitor market conditions and try to minimize any risks in our business operations.
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Thank you. We will take one last question.
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The last question will be presented by Dong-Hee Han from SK Securities. Please go ahead with your question.
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Thank you for taking my questions. My questions are about the company's effort to enhance corporate value, for example, shareholder return and ADR. Now, regarding the goal of KRW 100 trillion in cash announced at the shareholders' meeting, there are also concerns that shareholder return may fall short of market expectations along the way. What is the company's direction or plan for shareholder return policies? And also, could you give us an update about ADRs?
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Now, as the scale of capital expenditure structurally increases due to growing AI demand, the company decided that securing global leading financial strength is essential to ensure stable investment that is not affected by market conditions, and also to respond promptly to customer demand.
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As explained in the presentation, given the company's significantly enhanced profit generating capability, we believe that we can sufficiently balance between financial soundness and expanding shareholder returns. We plan to develop additional shareholder return measures within this year, including not only dividends but also share buyback and cancellation, and communicate with the market accordingly.
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The company already demonstrated our commitment to shareholder returns through a total annual dividend payout of KRW 2.1 trillion and cancellation of KRW 12.2 trillion in shares in 2025. Going forward, we will actively explore ways to steadily increase returns to shareholders in line with our earnings growth.
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About ADRs. The U.S. SEC review is currently underway, and I ask for understanding that we cannot provide any information beyond what has already been disclosed in accordance with domestic and international laws and regulations. Now, having said that, we will communicate more details with the market once they are finalized.
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Thank you. With that, we conclude the SK hynix 2026 first quarter earnings release conference call. Thank you everyone for your participation.