SK Hynix posts highest profit in 3 years from strong memory demand | ZDNet

SK Hynix recorded its highest sales and operating income in nearly three years during the second quarter, thanks to strong demand for memory chips.

The South Korean memory giant said on Tuesday it posted 10.3 trillion won in sales and 2.69 trillion won in operating income.

Sales increased 20% compared to the same time a year prior, while operating income jumped 38% over the same time period.

It is SK Hynix’ highest sales since the third quarter of 2018 and its highest operating income since the fourth quarter of 2018.

The company said demand for memory chips from PCs, graphics, and consumer products increased greatly during the quarter. Demand for server memory also recovered during the quarter, leading to the high growth, SK Hynix said.

Its advanced chips such as 10-nanometre DRAM and 128-layer NAND flash sold especially well during the quarter, the company said.

SK Hynix is expecting demand for memory to continue through the second half of the year.

Demand for solid-state drives from enterprises is also expected to increase during the remainder of the year, while the launch of new mobile products will help with NAND flash sales, the company said.

SK Hynix will begin production of DDR5 during the second half of the year, while it will also begin supplying 10-nm DRAM made with the extreme ultraviolet process in volume going forward, it said.

It will also begin production of 176-layer NAND flash near end of the year, SK Hynix added.

Compatriot Samsung Electronics is also expected to have seen high demand for memory chips during the quarter.

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