​SK Hynix Sees Profit Rise 77 Percent Over The Year

SK Hynix has posted 4.3673 trillion won in operating profits for the first quarter, a rise of 77 percent from a year ago and its second-highest ever for a quarter.

South Korea's second-largest semiconductor maker posted 3.1213 trillion won in net profit and revenues of 8.7197 trillion won.

The company said friendly prices for memory chips continued in the first quarter despite it being normally the off-season. For Q4 2017, it had recorded 4.4658 trillion won in operating profit, its record, thanks to high demand for memory chips.

DRAM shipments declined 5 percent for Q1 compared to the previous quarter due to weak mobile demand, the company said, while the average sales price increased 9 percent. Demand for NAND fell 10 percent while prices dropped 1 percent.

Internet Data Centers will continue to fuel demand for server DRAM, SK Hynix said. Mobile DRAM will rise also in smartphones, despite the saturation, due to new features such as in AI and strengthened cameras.

NAND will continue to be in high demand from enterprise SSDs. SK Hynix will increase the ratio of 72-layer 3D NAND by 50 percent this year, it said.

Compatriot Samsung Electronics posted 15.6 trillion won for Q1, its highest ever, thanks to record demand.

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