Sawt Falasteen - Value of South Korean chip giant SK hynix tops $1 tn

SK hynix's new benchmark comes on the heels of rival Samsung Electronics, whose market capitalisation also topped $1 trillion this month -- fanning frustration among its workers who have struck a deal with management securing massive bonuses and averting a strike.

Shares in SK hynix, which supplies Silicon Valley's AI chip titan Nvidia with advanced high-bandwidth memory, were up more than 11 percent in early afternoon trade.

Its new valuation makes the company one of just three $1 trillion companies in Asia, along with Samsung and Taiwanese contract chipmaker TSMC, according to Bloomberg.

Governments and tech firms worldwide are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into AI data centres that can train and run tools such as chatbots, image generators and agents.

That has caused a dizzying boom in business for companies that make the silicon microchips used to crunch huge amounts of data in these facilities.

In April, SK hynix said net profit had rocketed almost 400 percent to a record high in the first quarter thanks to the AI boom, which helped it shrug off concerns that the Middle East war could hit the semiconductor industry.

At Samsung, meanwhile, union members on Wednesday approved a deal with management under which around 78,000 employees will each be eligible to receive a bonus of roughly $370,000 this year, based on operating profit estimates.

According to Samsung's union, workers at SK hynix received bonuses more than three times larger than those paid by Samsung last year.

The promised windfall at both firms has sharply elevated the social status of chip engineers in South Korea.

A simple jacket bearing the SK hynix logo went viral on social media this month as a symbol of wealth and success, with parody posts depicting it as a "golden ticket" to luxury boutiques or better dating prospects.

Yonhap news agency said jobs at Samsung and SK hynix now guarantee "a boost in marriage market value", citing a rise in their "desirability indices" compiled by matchmaking agency Sunoo -- catching up with traditionally prestigious professions such as doctors and lawyers.

M.AlAhmad--SF-PST