Samsung will send 2,000 engineers to the factory to improve the quality of HBM memory

The technological problems of Samsung Electronics in recent years, as is commonly believed, are partly due to problems of internal corporate interaction, so a new step towards normalizing the situation with the production of HBM3E memory for Nvidia’s needs could be sending specialists who are responsible for its development to the places of its production.

Image Source: Samsung Electronics

At the end of the working week, the Taiwanese resource DigiTimes published a kind of news digest on this topic, based on publications from both South Korean and Western media. Appointed in May to head Samsung’s semiconductor business, Jun Young-hyun reportedly insisted on sending 2,000 engineers to the company’s newest facility in Pyeongtaek, where current generations of HBM chips are produced. This “engineering force” is tasked with improving the quality of products of the corresponding type. Specialists must ensure that when transferring new technologies from Samsung laboratories to the assembly line, the quality of the product does not drop. Officially, Samsung considers such reports to be unfounded.

According to Korean media reports, HBM3E memory manufactured by Samsung is unlikely to be able to pass Nvidia certification this year, but the first company expects to do so next year. According to Korean Economic Daily, next year SK hynix will begin producing HBM4 chips using 3nm technology, for which it is already collaborating with Taiwan’s TSMC. At the same time, Samsung still plans to limit itself to 4nm technology when releasing HBM4. For example, a base chip for HBM4 produced using a 3nm process technology will improve performance by 20–30% compared to existing 5nm chips. In such circumstances, Samsung is also interested in the possibility of cooperation with TSMC in order to gain access to 3nm technology. The need to catch up with competitors in the DRAM production sector, according to some media reports, is forcing Samsung to carry out business restructuring and a massive purge of the company’s leadership in the semiconductor sector.