The South Korean semiconductor behemoth, SK hynix-WI (SKHYV.US), commenced trading on the US market on Friday, marking its debut with a significant 14% surge at the opening bell. The stock opened at $170, well above its initial public offering price of $149. The listing raised a substantial $26.5 billion, setting a new record for the largest US IPO by a foreign company.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won indicated that SK hynix-WI is open to issuing additional shares in the US market, contingent on strong financial returns and stable share price performance. "This essentially requires better returns," he stated. "Once we achieve better returns, demand will naturally increase. Our primary goal is to maintain share price stability, and we hope to possess upward potential in the long term."

Chey Tae-won also pledged to increase the company's investment footprint in the United States. He remarked, "We are now in the AI era. The advent of the AI era has, in fact, significantly boosted demand for memory chips."

Currently, the three leading memory chip manufacturers are all accelerating investments to expand production capacity, competing to meet the surging market demand. SK hynix-WI and Samsung announced last week a combined investment plan of 800 trillion won to construct new chip fabrication plants. This move forms part of a broader national strategy in South Korea aimed at doubling the country's memory chip production capacity within five years.