Samsung accelerated development of HBM4 to get ahead of SK hynix

Memory of the HBM family has proven to be in demand in the segment of computational accelerators for artificial intelligence systems, and a few suppliers are trying to strengthen their positions in this profitable market segment. Samsung is obviously behind SK hynix in this area, but will try to catch up in preparation for the mass release of HBM4 type chips.

At least this is indicated by the publication of the South Korean resource The Chosun Daily, which cites sources familiar with the plans of Samsung Electronics. According to available information, Samsung has already completed the development of base crystals for HBM4, and has entrusted their production using 4nm technology to its own contract division. Thus, Samsung hopes to quickly receive ready-made samples of HBM4 chips and send them to potential customers who may ultimately defect from SK hynix if the initiative is successful.

A characteristic feature of HBM4 stacks is that they have a base die with logic, the functions of which may differ from client to client. The need for such adaptation, combined with a focus on reducing power consumption, forces SK hynix to entrust the production of such base crystals to Taiwan’s TSMC. Initially, it was believed that they would be produced for SK hynix using 5nm technology, and against this background, Samsung’s decision to use its 4nm process technology for similar purposes looked more advantageous, but some time ago information appeared about SK hynix’s intentions to order TSMC for the production of base crystals using more advanced 3nm technology.

According to Samsung, the production of base crystals in-house will allow the company to respond more quickly to customer requests, so the company expects to strengthen its market position after the release of its HBM4 type chips to the market. Secondly, Samsung expects to use a more advanced sixth-generation 10nm-class process technology to produce stacked DRAM dies, while SK hynix is ​​credited with a fifth-generation 10nm process. Densely arranged in a stack of up to 16 tiers, microcircuits can generate a significant amount of heat, so the technical process of their manufacture is of particular importance.

Finally, when producing HBM4, Samsung expects to introduce both a more advanced hybrid method for forming interlayer connections using copper, and a more modern TC-NCF chip packaging technology. The company intends to begin mass production of HBM4 this year.