Nvidia's $500B SK Hynix Deal Locks Up 37% of 2027 HBM Capacity
Beth_Kindig · x · 2026-10-05
Nvidia–SK Hynix Mega Deal
In July 2026, Nvidia signed a partnership valued at over $500 billion with SK Hynix and parent SK Group. Widely read as an HBM purchase agreement, it is effectively a letter of intent across SK Group: priority memory access plus an SK Telecom AI factory of up to 2GW.
A Two-Tier HBM Market
- In 2026 SK Hynix holds roughly 50% of global HBM share; Samsung 33% and Micron 18% trail far behind.
- Morgan Stanley (Sept 2026) estimates Nvidia will corner 37% of 2027 HBM capacity.
- The global HBM shortage has split the market into haves and have-nots, and the deal cements Nvidia as the top buyer in tier one.
Takeaway
AI accelerators cannot ship at scale without HBM, making memory the most pressing bottleneck in the AI race. With SK Hynix bound to Nvidia, everyone else's queue for memory gets longer; SK Hynix expects demand to exceed supply through at least 2030.
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