Guides

Understand the system before interpreting the signal.

KMI Guides are evergreen reference articles explaining the technologies, indicators, and market structures behind Korean financial markets.

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1. What Is HBM? The Investor Guide to AI Memory

Understand why HBM matters for AI, how it differs from conventional DRAM, and what investors should actually monitor.

→ Read the guide

2. What Is DRAM? The Investor Guide to Memory, HBM and the Chip Cycle

A practical framework for understanding DRAM pricing, shipments, product mix, costs, and the memory cycle.

→ Read the guide

More Guides Coming

Future KMI Guides will cover:

  • Foreign investor flows
  • USD/KRW
  • NAND
  • Market breadth
  • Share buybacks and cancellations
  • Semiconductor cycles

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What Is HBM? The Investor Guide to AI Memory

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AI is usually described as a race for faster GPUs. But compute power alone is not enough. A GPU cannot process data faster than memory can deliver it. That is the problem High Bandwidth Memory, or HBM , is designed to solve. For investors following Nvidia, SK hynix, Samsung Electronics, Micron, or the broader AI semiconductor supply chain, HBM has become one of the most important technologies to understand. Bottom Line HBM is vertically stacked DRAM designed to move very large amounts of data between memory and high-performance processors. Its importance to AI comes from three things: Bandwidth — AI accelerators need enormous amounts of data continuously. Capacity — larger models and inference workloads require more memory. Efficiency — moving data quickly and over shorter distances can improve system efficiency. The key investment point is not simply that "AI needs more memory." It is that memory bandwidth, capacity, qualification, packaging, and production capability can...
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Why Korean Stocks Fell While U.S. Semiconductor Stocks Held Up

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Korean semiconductor stocks and U.S. chip stocks do not always move together. That can seem strange when Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Nvidia, Micron, and other semiconductor companies are exposed to many of the same global technology trends. But the Korean market has its own drivers. Bottom Line A divergence between Korean stocks and U.S. semiconductor stocks does not automatically mean the underlying AI semiconductor cycle has changed. Korean equities can underperform because of: Foreign investor flows USD/KRW and domestic monetary conditions KOSPI concentration in a small number of large semiconductor stocks The key question is therefore not: Why didn't Korea follow the U.S.? It is: Which Korea-specific variable changed? The Claim If U.S. semiconductor stocks remain strong, Korean semiconductor stocks should also rise. Verdict NOT NECESSARILY The two markets are connected, but the relationship is not mechanical. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are influenced by the global se...
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