Net assets of "SOL AI Semiconductor Sub-Director" of the Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) for intensive investment in semiconductor materials, parts and equipment exceeded 800 billion won. It has been about a month since the net assets surpassed 500 billion won.
As of the 9th, a number of stocks, including Hanmi Semiconductor (55.26%), Reno Industrial (64.18%), Wonik IPS (72.46%), and Eotechnics (53.68%), which are the top ETF stocks, exceeded the gains of Samsung Electronics (38.78%) and SK Hynix (36.25%) since the beginning of the year.
The SOL AI Semiconductor Small Department Head ETF has also continued to rise since the beginning of the year, recording one-month returns of 38.87% and 28.68%, respectively. Samsung Electronics (19.71 percent) and SK Hynix (19.22 percent) are also ahead of Samsung Electronics (19.71 percent) in the past month.
Since the beginning of the year, individual investors have bought a net 107.3 billion won worth of SOL AI semiconductor small-scale ETFs, which is more than five times larger than the fourth quarter of last year (19.6 billion won).
Kim Jung-hyun, general manager of Shinhan Asset Management's ETF business, said, "If 2023-2024 was a time when it was focused on the 'GPU Shortage', after 2025, 'Keeping Memory Key' is underway. Strong stock prices of Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron led to the start of the semiconductor supercycle." "With market consensus on the importance of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) as much as high-performance operations, supercycle benefits are spreading strongly to the memory sector, so it is time to pay attention to domestic semiconductor small-cap companies," he added.
As HBM for driving AI accelerators becomes mandatory, major memory companies are expanding their production capacity by executing enormous CAPEX. However, as the speed and scale of AI infrastructure construction exceed the increase in supply, the super cycle of tight supply and demand continues even if investment is expanded.
In the process, the current prices of DDR4 and DDR5 have soared more than 8 times and 6 times, respectively, since mid-2025. In addition, demand for SSD is increasing due to the increased demand for large-capacity data storage along with the expansion of the AI inference market, but the pressure to increase NAND prices is also increasing due to the conservative expansion of suppliers.
"The memory shortage phenomenon will continue for the time being, with SSD prices more than doubling in a short period of time due to an imbalance in supply and demand, and market interest spreading to HDD areas," Kim said. "We should continue to pay attention to small businesses in Korea at a time when investment leverage is growing mainly in memory semiconductors."
Major stocks included in the SOL AI Semiconductor Sub-Director ETF include high-performance semiconductor substrate company ISU PETASIS, TC Bonder company Hanmi Semiconductor, and semiconductor test pin company Reno Industrial. It covers the entire semiconductor value chain, including semiconductor equipment companies such as Eotechnics, Wonik IPS, HPS, Jusung Engineering, and Techwing, as well as semiconductor parts companies such as ISC, S&Eck and TCK, and OSAT companies such as Hana Micron.
