An unverified market rumor circulating in South Korea has tied SK Hynix to Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin platform, HBM4 pricing, and the SK Group’s data center business.
The claim had appeared by the evening of Aug. 6 on the “Short Position” board of major Korean online forum DCInside. The original poster explicitly labeled it a “Yeouido jirashi,” a term used in Korea’s securities circles for market chatter that has not been officially confirmed. So far, neither SK Hynix nor Nvidia has confirmed the claims, and they remain rumor.
Rumor focuses first on HBM3E and HBM4 pricing
The post first targets pricing for high-bandwidth memory supplied by SK Hynix to Nvidia.
According to the author, SK Hynix is currently supplying HBM3E to Nvidia under annual fixed pricing, with prices described as relatively low. The post contrasts that with Samsung Electronics, saying the company has benefited from a sharp rise in conventional DRAM prices and has therefore posted stronger profit performance recently. It uses that comparison to explain why SK Hynix’s quarterly profit growth may have looked more limited.
The bigger market focus is HBM4. The rumor claims that other suppliers could raise HBM4 quotes to Nvidia by more than 80% next year, while SK Hynix may only see an increase of about 50%.
Post ties alleged HBM4 issues at SK Hynix to Vera Rubin timing
The most closely watched part of the post directly links Nvidia Vera Rubin’s schedule to SK Hynix’s HBM4.
The author wrote: “Because of defect issues with SK Hynix’s HBM4, Nvidia Vera Rubin has been delayed. This is true.” If correct, the impact would go beyond a simple pricing dispute over HBM supply.
Another claim says the SK Group may have gained priority GPU supply
The post also says that while SK Hynix may be accepting a smaller increase in HBM4 pricing than rival suppliers, the tradeoff is that the SK Group’s data center business is getting priority access to Nvidia chips.
In that version of events, SK Hynix gives ground on HBM pricing, while the wider SK Group gains an advantage in securing Nvidia GPUs needed for AI data centers.
How the information allegedly spread became part of the story
The rumor drew attention in Korean investor communities for another reason: the post included a detailed account of how the information supposedly moved through the market.
According to the DCInside post, an SK Hynix salesperson complained about the situation during a drinking gathering. The information was then allegedly heard by an analyst who had previously worked at SK Hynix and later spread into Yeouido’s financial circles.
The post even named analyst 채민숙 (Chae Min-sook). It claimed SK Hynix later investigated how the information had leaked and barred the analyst from entering the company, after which fund managers tried to cross-check the claims through other analysts.
As of publication, neither SK Hynix nor Nvidia has confirmed the claims described in the post.