News that memory chipmaker SK Hynix (000660) stock has jumped 23% in a week has attracted considerable attention from investors. Behind the scenes, speculation has been running wild that the Icheon-based business has been making striking progress in Nvidia’s (NVDA) qualification process for its next‑generation HBM4 memory, or high bandwidth memory. Furthermore, SK Hynix, industry gossip says, could be close to mass production later in 2026.
Crucially, the South Korean chipmaker’s rapid development puts it firmly in the frame to supply Nvidia with HBM4 modules for the US chip giant’s next generation ‘Rubin’ GPU platform launch. Rubin was unveiled at last month’s CES (Consumer Electronics Show), the world’s largest tech event held annually in Las Vegas. It is also primed for launch in the second half of the year.
Key strategic Nvidia partner
SK Hynix has been a deep, strategic partner with Nvidia for years, acting as a premier supplier of HBM chips critical for Nvidia’s AI processors. According to post-industry chatter on X, SK Hynix began supplying HBM4 customer samples to Nvidia late last year. Since then, it has resolved earlier circuit‑related issues through design refinements and process improvements.
The updated HBM4 samples are said to have achieved Nvidia’s target 11 Gbps bandwidth. Meanwhile, they are sustaining 9–10 Gbps under the chipmaker’s more demanding environmental stress tests.
It’s unclear at this stage whether Nvidia has placed orders with SK Hynix. For now, the South Korean firm is expected to continue submitting prototype batches throughout the first quarter. Furthermore, mass production could potentially begin by late Q1 or during Q2, if qualification proceeds as planned.
The claims emerge as competition between SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics (005930) intensifies in the HBM space, a market seeing explosive growth driven by AI server demand. Both companies are vying for larger allocations in Nvidia’s next generation GPU line-up. This remains the industry’s most influential buyer of advanced memory.
UK access to SK Hynix
But here’s the thing. If UK retail investors want to invest in the SK Hynox story, their options are limited. A quick search on platforms AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown and Interactive Investors, three of the UK’s largest, found no direct way to invest in the shares.
UK listed technology investment trusts weren’t much help. The Polar Capital Technology Trust (PCT) did have a stake as of October 2025, but it was just 1.73% of the overall portfolio. It’s more concentrated peer Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) has no stake at all, as of August last year. Although that might have changed more recently, investors will find out when the trust reports 2025 annual results on 13 March.
A better bet is the Templeton Emerging Markets Investment Trust (TEM), with roughly 7% of the portfolio in SK Hynix (as at 31 December 2025). Meanwhile, Abrdn Asia Pacific Equity added SK Hynix to its portfolio in 2025, citing its AI-related growth. We also note that SK Hynix is among the 10 biggest stakes of the Blue Whale Growth fund, run by active stock picker Stephen Yiu.
‘SK Hynix is well positioned to increase its share of the semiconductor industry value chain as AI workloads continue to scale and accelerate the transition away from commoditised memory products towards differentiated, premium-priced products’, is what Blue Whale says about the company.
Blue Whale is believed to have roughly 6.5% of its portfolio in SK Hynix.
South Korea ETF options
Trawling through tech-themed ETFs is unlikely to give you much exposure, such is their typical investment breadth. Consequently, this arguably makes a South Korean ETF specialist perhaps the best solution. SK Hynix is the second largest company on the Seoul exchange (behind Samsung), so you can get a bigger slice of SK Hynix this way.
JustETF lists a handful of South Korea-facing ETF options run by established providers like iShares, Amundi, Xtrackers, and HSBC. Here, average charges range from 0.45%-0.65% a year for SK Hynix stakes of between 12%-16% exposure.
| ETF size | Costs | % SK Hynix | |
| Franklin FTSE Korea | £1,870m | 0.09% | 12.07% |
| Amundi MSCI Korea | £286m | 0.45% | N/A |
| Xtrackers MSCI Korea | £97m | 0.45% | 16.39% |
| HSBC MSCI Korea Capped | £502m | 0.50% | 16.30% |
| iShares MSCI Korea | £904m | 0.65% | 12.57% |
The Franklin FTSE Korea ETF (FLRK) is the lowest cost South Korea ETF at 0.09%. It has a little more than 12% of the portfolio in SK Hynix.
Disclaimer: The author Steven Frazer has a personal interest in Blue Whale Growth.
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