[Peace&Chips] Samsung Electronics' Determined Effort... The Growing Importance of HBM3E Next Year

Key Memory Industry Keywords for Next Year: 'HBM'
Samsung Electronics Supplies HBM3E 'Shinebolt' Samples
HBM3E Nvidia Delivery Status Crucial

Editor's NoteSemiconductors, known as the rice of modern industry. Although it's a term we hear every day, it's often hard to explain. Peace & Chips will make the complex concepts and overall trends of the semiconductor industry easy to digest. Just place your spoon on it.

As we approach the end of October, the weather is getting noticeably colder. It makes us realize that the year is coming to a close. Some people may already be planning for next year and ordering diaries. The semiconductor industry is also looking forward to next year. This is because the industry has been going through a tough period due to the semiconductor market downturn that started last year and continued into this year. There are forecasts that the industry will regain momentum next year.

In particular, the memory semiconductor market, which experienced a significant negative growth rate, is expected to rebound quickly next year. Just like this year, the key keyword for the memory industry next year is expected to be 'High Bandwidth Memory (HBM)'. HBM is a high-performance memory that stacks multiple DRAM chips vertically to increase data processing speed, and since it is used together with Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), it is called memory for Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications.

Market research firm TrendForce has evaluated this year and next year as critical turning points for AI development. They also expect related demand to increase significantly. Next year, AI server shipments are expected to increase by 38% compared to this year. HBM supply per bit is also projected to surge by 105%. For Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, who share the market share in the HBM market, this is a great opportunity to boost their performance.

Some concerns have been raised about Samsung Electronics' HBM business. This is due to the business gap with competitor SK Hynix. SK Hynix is supplying HBM 4th generation products, HBM3, to Nvidia, a major player in the HBM market. Recently, there have been reports that the next-generation product, HBM3E, will also be supplied to Nvidia. On the other hand, Samsung Electronics has reportedly faced delays in finalizing contracts to supply HBM3 to Nvidia.

Industry insiders analyze that SK Hynix's introduction of 'MR-MUF (Mass Reflow Molded Underfill)' from the 3rd generation HBM product (HBM2E) to improve productivity may have led to this outcome. MR-MUF is a production method where multiple DRAM chips are placed in one space, heated, and then a protective material is injected between the chips. Given Nvidia's significant presence in the HBM market, SK Hynix's first-mover advantage is also considered a major factor.

However, there is also anticipation that Samsung Electronics will supply HBM3 within this year. Researcher Noh Geun-chang from Hyundai Motor Securities said, "From the latter part of the 4th quarter, (Samsung Electronics) will supply HBM3 to Nvidia, improving performance in the DRAM sector." Samsung Electronics has been advancing its HBM production technology and has concretized its business strategy for HBM3E (Shinebolt), whose demand is expected to ramp up next year. They are currently delivering HBM3E samples to customers and plan to differentiate themselves with customized turnkey services going forward.

The industry views whether Samsung Electronics will supply HBM3E to Nvidia as one of the key indicators to evaluate the future of the HBM business. TrendForce stated, "Besides the current main product HBM2E, the demand share for HBM3 has increased this year," adding, "The three major suppliers (Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and US-based Micron) will additionally launch HBM3E in 2024-2025 to enhance AI accelerator chip performance."

This article is from [Peace & Chips], published weekly by Asia Economy. By clicking subscribe, you can receive articles for free.

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This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.