Two Countries, and a Dispute Between ThemThin moat

SK hynix (SKHY) — moat facet

A customer base disclosed as the United States and China is not diversification; it is one dispute with two addresses.

SK hynix's filing locates its largest customers in the United States and China1. As a description of a global customer base that is technically two countries and practically one problem.

Two exposures inside one sentenceOrdinary concentration23.9% of 2025 revenue, one relationshipWhere they areThe United States and ChinaWhere SK hynix buildsIcheon, Cheongju - and Dalian and WuxiWho sets the rulesGovernments, without noticeThe filing names countries rather than industries, which is the tell.
Not diversification. One dispute, with two addresses.

Both are enormous markets and they are, at present, conducting a technology dispute with each other in which semiconductors are the principal instrument. Export controls determine what a Korean company may sell to Chinese customers and what equipment it may install in Chinese facilities; American policy determines the second; Chinese industrial policy is actively constructing domestic alternatives to the first. SK hynix operates fabs in China and sells into both, which places it inside a dispute it has no standing in.

Nothing about being an excellent manufacturer answers this. It is the same category of exposure that has cost every semiconductor company in this collection real revenue at some point, and it is not priced by the market until it happens.

What partly offsets it is that Korea is not the subject of the dispute, and that a Korean supplier is in some respects the neutral option for buyers on both sides.

The number to watch is the share of revenue derived from Chinese customers, and the equipment rules governing SK hynix's Chinese fabs. Both are set by governments, and both can change without notice.

Moat trajectory: Narrowing

Export controls have tightened rather than loosened, Chinese domestic capacity is being built to replace imports, and SK hynix operates fabs in Dalian and Wuxi inside that dispute.

The number that tests this moat
Moat Explorer calc
U.S. and China share of first-half revenue
64% and 25% (H1 2026)

Revenue by selling entity sits mainly in the two countries whose trade dispute sets the rules for memory exports. The China share rising would increase exposure to that dispute.

How it's calculated: Revenue booked by U.S. (₩84,564.8bn) and Chinese (₩32,478.3bn) selling entities ÷ total H1 2026 revenue (₩131,895.0bn).
Source: SK hynix semi-annual report, H1 2026 ↗
References
  1. ReportedThe filing locates SK hynix's largest customers in the United States and China.
    SK hynix Inc., Form 424B4 prospectus — risk factors and the offering (SEC, CIK 2120882). 'A substantial portion of our sales is attributable to a limited number of customers located in the United States and China. Our two largest customers represented 14.8% and 12.4%, respectively, of our total revenue in the first quarter of 2026 and our largest customer represented 23.9% of our total revenue in 2025.' DRAM products were 77.3% of total sales in Q1 2026 and 77.1% in 2025; NAND flash 22.0% and 21.3%. NAND mass production is transitioning from 176-layer technology to 238- and 321-layer technologies. The offering was 177,900,000 ADSs at US$149.00 each, representing 17,790,000 common shares against 712,702,365 outstanding, each ADS one-tenth of a share; Baillie Gifford Overseas, funds managed by Coatue Management and Situational Awareness Partners indicated a non-binding interest of up to US$7 billion. — FY2025 and Q1 2026 · publ. 2026-07-10 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 23, 2026