Samsung, SK hynix NAND Profits Seen Surging Up to 40-Fold

Projected DRAM demand for humanoid robot brains from 2026 to 2030. (Counterpoint Research) Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are expected to see substantial growth in NAND flash and memory for robotics, adding to their gains in high-bandwidth memory (HBM). The outlook is driven by surging demand for enterprise solid-state drives (SSDs) amid expanding artificial intelligence (AI) data center investment, while humanoid robots are emerging as a major new source of memory demand. According to industry sources and market research firms on Oct. 11, the two companies’ NAND operating profits are projected to increase by at least 25-fold to more than 40-fold compared with last year. Mirae Asset Securities forecasts that Samsung Electronics' NAND operating profit will surge from 2 trillion won, approximately $1.5 billion, last year to 82.6 trillion won this year, an increase of about 41 times. Its operating profit margin is also projected to climb from 6.9% to 63.5%, nearly a tenfold increase. SK hynix's NAND operating profit is expected to rise approximately 23-fold, from 2.4 trillion won last year to 55.3 trillion won this year. The primary driver of the NAND earnings boom is growing demand for high-capacity SSDs used in AI servers. As AI systems process increasingly vast amounts of data, prices for NAND flash, a core component of SSDs, are also rising. TrendForce forecasts that contract prices across all NAND product categories will increase 15% to 20% quarter on quarter in the fourth quarter. The combined enterprise SSD revenue of the five leading manufacturers, including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, reached $37.59 billion in the second quarter, surging 103.6% from the previous quarter and supporting the sector's improving profitability. Humanoid robots are also emerging as a new growth market for memory semiconductors. Counterpoint Research projects that total DRAM demand from the robotics industry will increase more than 20-fold, from approximately 8,300 terabits (Tbit) this year to around 172,000 Tbit by 2030. Average DRAM capacity per robot is also expected to more than double, from 19 gigabytes (GB) to 39 GB over the same period. High-performance memory is essential for robots to process visual and tactile information in real time and make decisions about their actions. Global semiconductor companies are increasingly recognizing the potential of the robotics market. Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra has said that humanoid robots could eventually require memory capacity comparable to that of Level 4 or higher autonomous vehicles. Such vehicles typically require more than 200 GB of memory and several terabytes (TB) of storage, suggesting that advanced robots could develop similarly demanding specifications. South Korean chipmakers are moving to secure an early position in this emerging market. Samsung Electronics has outlined plans to supply semiconductor solutions for robotics that combine high-bandwidth and low-power memory with foundry services and advanced packaging capabilities. SK hynix is also strengthening its technology partnerships, including collaboration with NVIDIA to jointly develop next-generation memory for robotic computing platforms. Because robots operate on batteries, energy-efficient low-power DRAM (LPDDR) and high-capacity NAND flash are expected to become key competitive differentiators.