SK hynix starts shipping HBM4 memory samples – 12 tiers, 36 GB and 2 TB/s

South Korean company SK hynix has seen its revenue and profits grow significantly, and take up half the market share in the relevant segment, thanks to its contracts to supply Nvidia with HBM memory chips of various generations. Not wanting to slow down, it announced this week that it would begin delivering HBM4 samples to customers ahead of schedule.

Image Source: SK Hynix

As specified in the press release, we are talking about 12-tier HBM4 stacks, the mass production of which will be launched in the second half of this year. It is noteworthy that SK hynix mentions “large customers” in the plural, speaking about the start of shipping the corresponding HBM4 samples for their study. It is emphasized that the sample shipments began earlier than originally planned. Certification of this memory by customers should begin soon. By the second half of the year, everything should be ready to start mass production of HBM4.

The 2TB/s throughput opens up new possibilities for HBM4 users in high-speed data processing, increasing the speed by 60% compared to HBM3E. A single stack consisting of 12 tiers allows storing up to 36GB of information. The advanced MR-MUF packaging technology improves the thermal conductivity of the memory stack, as SK hynix explains.

Third-party sources reported the day before that SK hynix managed to become the exclusive supplier of 12-tier HBM3E chips for the production of Nvidia accelerators of the Blackwell Ultra family. However, Micron Technology also claims Nvidia’s favor, since the American manufacturer completed the development of its 12-tier HBM3E chips back in September 2024.