China's YMTC Joins the HBM Race... 'Hybrid Bonding' Emerges as a New Variable

Chinese Firms Attempt to Enter HBM Market
Could They Become Rivals to SK Hynix and Samsung?
Industry Warns: "China's Investments Cannot Be Ignored"

Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC), China's largest NAND flash company, is preparing to enter the high bandwidth memory (HBM) market and is exploring technological workarounds. With China seeking to make a full-fledged entry into the HBM market, which has been dominated by SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, and Micron, observers suggest that this could introduce new variables to the global memory industry landscape.

According to foreign media reports and the semiconductor industry on October 4, YMTC is seeking to move beyond its NAND flash-focused business and enter the DRAM and HBM markets. YMTC is reportedly considering converting part of its new semiconductor plant under construction in Wuhan into a DRAM production line.

In particular, YMTC is developing the "TSV (through-silicon via) based etching process," an advanced semiconductor packaging technology essential for HBM manufacturing, and simultaneously plans to enter HBM production using a "bonding" method. Currently, the global HBM market is dominated by TSV stacking technology. However, due to the high process complexity and U.S. equipment restrictions, entry barriers are significant and limitations are becoming apparent. In contrast, hybrid bonding is a technique that directly connects the copper wiring of each chip, which helps reduce HBM package thickness and improves performance and heat dissipation characteristics. YMTC applied hybrid bonding technology to NAND manufacturing five years ago as a preemptive move. Shin Changhwan, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University, said, "Stacking has already reached its physical limits. China is rapidly shifting toward bonding, and over the next two to five years, we may see competition between bonding and stacking technologies."

Lee Jonghwan, a professor in the Department of System Semiconductor Engineering at Sangmyung University, also commented, "While we are currently about two years ahead in the semiconductor industry, the pace of China's semiconductor development is remarkable. It is highly likely that China will enter the market with low-spec HBM and quickly challenge higher-spec products." He added, "Bonding is a complex and difficult technology, but given the Chinese government's full-scale investment in the semiconductor industry, we cannot ignore their efforts."

The domestic industry is paying attention to the possibility that bonding technology could emerge as a new axis in the existing HBM competitive landscape. Currently, SK Hynix has established a dominant position by stably mass-producing HBM3E with 12-layer stacking, while Samsung Electronics is pursuing mass production of HBM3E. Micron is focusing on expanding its production capacity, and with YMTC attempting a detour with bonding technology, there is speculation about potential changes in the market landscape.

YMTC manufacturing plant in China. Yonhap News.

Furthermore, HBM is an essential memory for global artificial intelligence (AI) companies such as Nvidia, AMD, Google, and Microsoft. The market size for 2025 alone is expected to exceed 47.6 billion dollars (approximately 69.8 trillion won), prompting China to accelerate HBM localization to protect its domestic AI chip and server ecosystem. Given the scale of government support being invested in "Made in China 2035," which aims for semiconductor self-sufficiency and AI development, domestic companies cannot afford to be complacent. Recently, Huawei in China announced plans to equip its new AI semiconductor "Ascend 950PR," scheduled for release in the first quarter of next year, with its self-developed HBM, "HiBL 1.0." China's top DRAM company, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), has also completed development of HBM3 sample chips and is reportedly targeting mass production of HBM3 next year and HBM3E in 2027.

A domestic industry official commented, "It is significant that YMTC, already a major player in the NAND industry, is expanding into DRAM as part of China's drive for semiconductor self-sufficiency. If another player enters the market and can stably supply products, price competition is expected to intensify."

On the other hand, some believe that, unlike NAND, entering the DRAM market will not be easy in the short term. Another industry insider said, "We still see the HBM market as being dominated by Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron, and there are no clear signs of actual market participation yet." Kim Jeonghoe, Vice Chairman of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, also stated, "It is not easy for a NAND company to suddenly enter DRAM and mass-produce HBM. For now, SK Hynix is ahead, and what Samsung Electronics does next will be crucial."