Nvidia has played a pioneering role in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) over the past four years.
The company’s graphics processing units (GPUs) have been deployed to train popular large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, and it remains the top seller of AI chips by market share
The semiconductor bellwether controls more than 80% of the AI chip market. However, Nvidia stock has underperformed the broader market in 2026, gaining just 8% as compared to the 35% jump in the Nasdaq-100 Technology Sector index. This underperformance can be attributed to the growing competition, with rivals such as Intel, Broadcom, and Advanced Micro Devices witnessing strong demand for their server processors, graphics cards, and custom AI chips.
The problem for Nvidia is the emergence of alternative chips capable of handling AI workloads in data centers. However, what’s worth noting is that all types of AI processors discussed so far rely on a critical component — high-bandwidth memory (HBM). This is precisely why I believe that South Korean memory giant SK Hynix (NASDAQ: SKHY) could become the next Nvidia.