Samsung: Exclusive 12-Layer HBM3E Supply to Nvidia in Sept.

Samsung Electronics is rapidly solidifying its presence in the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market, emerging as a dominant player. The company has achieved a significant milestone with the successful development of 12-layer DRAM HBM3E chips, potentially positioning itself to surpass current leaders and become the exclusive supplier of 12-layer stacked HBM3E chips for Nvidia.

According to industry reports, Samsung is leading the development of 12-layer HBM3E ahead of its competitors, with expectations to secure exclusivity as Nvidia's supplier as early as September 2024. Samsung has refrained from disclosing specific customer information regarding this advancement.

In late February 2024, Micron announced the commencement of mass production for 8-layer HBM3E, while Samsung unveiled its successful development of 36GB 12-layer HBM3E products. Samsung highlights the superior layer count of its 12-layer HBM3E, maintaining the same height as 8-layer HBM3E.

The 12-layer HBM3E offers a maximum bandwidth of 1280GB/s, representing over a 50% increase in performance and capacity compared to 8-layer HBM3. Samsung anticipates initiating mass production of 12-layer HBM3E later in 2024.

Although Samsung has not officially announced mass production of HBM3E, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang confirmed during the recent GTC 2024 event that Samsung's HBM is undergoing the validation phase. Huang's endorsement, marked with "Jensen Approved" beside Samsung's 12-layer HBM3E introduction, fuels speculation about the likelihood of Samsung's HBM3E passing the validation process.

During the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC 2024) held from February 18 to 21, Samsung unveiled its upcoming HBM4, boasting a bandwidth of 2TB/s, a significant 66% increase compared to the fifth-generation HBM (HBM3E). Additionally, the number of I/Os has doubled.

Samsung anticipates mass production of HBM4 by 2026, signaling intensified research and development competition with competitors and garnering considerable attention for its advancements in the field.