SEOUL, Sept 12 (Reuters) - South Korea's SK Hynix ( HXSCF )

said on Friday it has completed its internal

certification process for next generation high-bandwidth memory

4(HBM4) chips and established a production system for customers.

In March, the South Korean chipmaker, a key supplier to AI

giant Nvidia ( NVDA ), said it had shipped its HBM4 12-layer

chip samples to customers, adding that the company aims to

complete preparations for mass production of 12-layer HBM4

products within the second half of this year.

HBM - a type of dynamic random access memory or DRAM

standard first produced in 2013 - involves stacking chips

vertically to save space and reduce power consumption, helping

to process the large volumes of data generated by complex AI

applications.

SK Hynix ( HXSCF ) shares hit a record high in morning trade, rising

as much as 7.3%, outpacing the benchmark KOSPI's 1.2% rise, as

analysts cited the company's HBM4 chip production plans.

Kim Sunwoo, a senior analyst at Meritz Security,

projected that SK Hynix's ( HXSCF ) HBM market share will remain in the

low 60% range in 2026, supported by early HBM4 supply to key

customers and the resulting first-mover advantage.

SK Hynix ( HXSCF ) is currently the main HBM supplier to Nvidia ( NVDA ),

although Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ) and Micron

supply it with smaller volumes.

Samsung said in July that it had provided samples of its

HBM4 chips

to customers, with a plan to supply them next year.