Samsung Electronics to Mass Produce 12-Stack High-Capacity HBM3E in First Half of Year

Samsung Electronics has announced plans to mass-produce the 12-layer stacked product of the 5th generation High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) 3E in the first half of the year, intensifying competition in the HBM market. SK Hynix is on the verge of mass-producing the 8-layer HBM3E, while the US-based Micron has announced the start of mass production of the 8-layer HBM3E.

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Samsung Electronics developed the HBM3E 8H (8-layer stacked) product in October last year and, after about five months, upgraded it to the HBM3E 12H (12-layer stacked) product. To outpace competitors and capture customer attention in the increasingly fierce HBM market, the company consolidated its technological capabilities and opted for a rapid product transition. Samsung Electronics expressed confidence by stating it will mass-produce the new product in the first half of the year.

The 36GB capacity HBM3E 12H product introduced by Samsung Electronics stacks more DRAM chips than the 8H product but maintains the same height. This was made possible by utilizing advanced TC NCF (Thermal Compression Non-Conductive Film) technology, which increases the number of stacks and reduces chip thickness while minimizing warpage that could occur. In this process, Samsung Electronics further enhanced product completeness by reducing the spacing between stacked chips and varying the size of bumps (conductive protrusions formed to connect chips) depending on their positions.

Micron, a competitor in memory chips from the US, ignited the competition in the 5th generation HBM market by announcing the mass production of HBM3E on the same day. Micron’s new 8-layer HBM3E product is expected to be used in NVIDIA’s H200 Tensor Core Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), which will be launched in the second quarter. Notably, Micron plans to provide samples of the 12-layer HBM3E product, similar to Samsung Electronics’, to customers next month, which is expected to further intensify competition.

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SK Hynix, which entered HBM development earlier, developed the HBM3E 8-layer product in August last year and recently began initial mass production. A SK Hynix official stated, "We will complete customer certification soon and start full-scale mass production." The company’s President, Kwak No-jeong, announced the plan to mass-produce within the first half of the year, suggesting the possibility of advancing this timeline. SK Hynix also plans to introduce the 12-layer HBM3E product at the same height as the 8-layer product, similar to Samsung Electronics.

The semiconductor industry is paying close attention to market changes as the transition from the 4th generation HBM product, HBM3, to HBM3E accelerates. SK Hynix quickly developed HBM3 and secured early leadership by exclusively supplying products to NVIDIA. Samsung Electronics followed suit by developing HBM3, intensifying competition. Micron, a latecomer, has announced its entry starting from the HBM3E era.

Currently, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics hold over 90% of the global HBM market share. Market research firm TrendForce predicts that this year, the two companies will each hold between 47% and 49% market share, while Micron is expected to capture 3% to 5%. However, with Micron opening the HBM3E era faster than expected, there is speculation that it could gain a larger market share depending on competition.

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An industry insider said, "The HBM market is receiving so much attention that the competition among the top three DRAM companies is becoming increasingly fierce. Although it is difficult to say that Micron has immediately surpassed domestic companies with the start of HBM3E mass production, it could increase its market share depending on its technological level."

According to market research firm Mordor Intelligence, the global HBM market is expected to grow from $2.52 billion this year to $7.95 billion by 2029, with an average annual growth rate of 25.86%. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix plan to focus investments on HBM product development and mass production to meet this market demand. They have also concretized plans to more than double their HBM production capacity this year.

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