The story
Founded by Jeong Ju-yung in 1983.1
Hyundai Electronics
Hyundai Electronics was founded in 1983 by Chung Ju-yung, the founder of Hyundai Group. In the early 1980s, Chung recognized the growing importance of electronics in the automobile industry, one of Hyundai's primary business areas. He saw the potential for Hyundai to expand beyond its core operations in automobiles, shipbuilding, and heavy industries and wanted to establish a presence in the promising electronics industry. The company's primary focus was on semiconductor production and industrial electronics.
Hyundai had to pay a very high entry price to set up an efficient production system and to stabilize the yield rate compared to its rival Samsung, who at least had prior experience in semiconductor manufacturing. Hyundai's decision to produce SRAMs was later proven to be a mistake, as the technological sophistication of SRAMs made it difficult for Hyundai to achieve a satisfactory yield rate. In 1985, Hyundai altered its strategy for DRAM manufacturing by subcontracting from foreign firms and importing their chip designs, as it had lost time developing its own chips. Hyundai's DRAM chip, produced by importing Vitelic Corporation's design and technology, again failed in mass production due to a low yield rate.
Hyundai's approach to manufacturing memory chips as a foundry for foreign firms under OEM agreements was successful. The OEM agreements between General Instruments and Texas Instruments were helpful to Hyundai, which was facing technological and financial difficulties. By 1992, Hyundai had become the world's ninth DRAM manufacturer, and by 1995, it ranked among the world's top 20 semiconductor manufacturing companies. In 1996, Hyundai acquired Maxtor, a U.S.-based disk-drive manufacturer.
LG Semicon
GoldStar, which later became LG Electronics, entered the semiconductor business by acquiring a small company from Taihan Electric Wire in 1979. The company was subsequently renamed GoldStar Semiconductor. LG Semicon was established as Goldstar Electron in 1983 by merging the semiconductor operations of Goldstar Electronics and Goldstar Semiconductors. In 1990, Goldstar Electron commenced operations at Cheongju Plant I, followed by the completion of Cheongju Plant II in 1994. The company underwent a name change to LG Semicon in 1995. LG Semicon operated from three sites, including Seoul, Cheongju, and Gumi.
Merger
During the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the South Korean government initiated the restructuring of the nation's five major conglomerates, including their semiconductor businesses. Among five chaebols, Samsung, LG, and Hyundai were engaged in the semiconductor business. Samsung was exempt from the restructuring due to its competitive position in the global market. However, LG and Hyundai were pressured by the government to merge, as both companies faced significant losses during the semiconductor recession of early 1996. In 1998, Hyundai Electronics acquired LG Semicon for US$2.1 billion, positioning itself in direct competition with Micron Technology. Subsequently, LG Semicon was rebranded as Hyundai Semiconductor and later merged with Hyundai Electronics.
Hynix
Although the South Korean government aimed to merge the two companies to alleviate the supply glut in the global market, competition in the semiconductor industry had intensified. Hyundai faced near collapse during the chip industry's downturn in 2001, when global memory chip prices dropped by 80 percent, resulting in a 5 trillion won annual loss for the company. Creditor banks, many of them under government control at the time, intervened to provide assistance.
In 2001, Hyundai Electronics rebranded as Hynix Semiconductor, a portmanteau of "high" and "electronics". Alongside this change, Hynix began selling or spinning off business units to recover from a cash squeeze. Hynix separated several business units, including Hyundai Curitel, a mobile phone manufacturer; Hyundai SysComm, a CDMA mobile communication chip maker; Hyundai Autonet, a car navigation system producer; ImageQuest, a flat panel display company; and its TFT-LCD unit, among others. The divestiture was part of a bailout plan requested by the major creditor, Korea Development Bank, to provide fresh funds to the insolvent semiconductor maker.
In 2003, Hyundai Group affiliates, including Hyundai Merchant Marine, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Elevator, and Chung Mong-hun, the chairman of Hyundai Asan, consented to forfeit their voting rights and sell their stakes in Hynix. Hynix was then formally spun-off from the Hyundai Group in August 2003.
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SK Hynix
The Hynix creditors, including Korea Exchange Bank, Woori Bank, Shinhan Bank and Korea Finance Corporation, attempted to sell their stakes in Hynix several times but failed. Korean companies such as Hyosung, Dongbu CNI, and former stakeholders, including Hyundai Heavy Industries and LG, were considered potential bidders but were either denied or withdrew from the bidding. In July 2011, SK Telecom, the nation's largest telecommunication company, and STX Group officially entered the bid. STX dropped its deal in September 2011, leaving SK Telecom as the sole bidder. In the end, SK acquired Hynix for US$3 billion in February 2012. As Hynix was incorporated into SK Group, its name was changed to SK Hynix.
In 2021, Hynix acquired Intel's NAND business for $9 billion, resulting in the establishment of Solidigm.
On September 26, 2024, SK Hynix said "it has begun mass production of 12-layer high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, the first in the world." As of Q2 2025, SK Hynix controlled 38% of the global DRAM market.
In March 2026, it was reported that SK Hynix had filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a potential listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
The global AI boom led to a massive surge in corporate profits and stock prices in 2025/26. In the first quarter of 2026, the company achieved an operating profit of $25 billion, which was nearly equal to the annual revenue of 2022. Ten percent of the expected annual profit of $169 billion is to be distributed directly to employees as bonuses, amounting to just under half a million per person.
This led to consumers having a great shortage of RAM. Although the community was outraged. SK Hynix would rather sell to major companies like Apple or Samsung, along with AI companies such as OpenAI due to the fact that they earn more profit.
As of June 2026, its market capitalization was estimated at KRW 1.251 trillion, ranking it 13th globally by market capitalization.
On June 22, 2026, SK Hynix surpassed Samsung Electronics in market capitalization based on common shares, becoming the largest company on the KOSPI by market value. It marked the first time Samsung Electronics had relinquished its position as the KOSPI's most valuable listed company since November 2000, ending a reign of 25 years and 7 months.
On July 10, 2026, SK Hynix began trading its American depositary receipts on the Nasdaq under the ticker SKHY. The offering raised US$26.5 billion.
On July 21, 2026, media reports suggested that SK Hynix has agreed to acquire Intel's semiconductor fab site and facilities in Ohio, United States, and has begun the acquisition process, a move aimed at responding to U.S. government pressure for investment and market demands for increased supply.
From Wikipedia’s article on SK Hynix, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.6