Chinese memory manufacturers continue to master the production of high-speed HBM memory required for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC). Already the third Chinese company, Tongfu Microelectronics, which is an AMD partner, has begun testing its HBM products.
Image source: en.tfme.com
The names of the clients have not yet been disclosed, but according to the Nikkei publication, Huawei, which is developing AI processors with HBM, may be among them. However, Tongfu does not officially state anything about this on its website, leaving questions about the extent of its participation in HBM projects, and not HBM2.
The history of the creation of Tongfu Microelectronics is also noteworthy. In 2015, when AMD was in a difficult financial situation, Tongfu agreed to create a joint venture with Nantong Fujitsu Microelectronics (NFME). AMD transferred its assembly and testing facilities in Suzhou (a city in China) and Malaysia, receiving in return $371 million and a stake in the new enterprise. NFME later became part of Tongfu Microelectronics, which now operates the TF-AMD joint venture with AMD.
It is noted that at the moment Tongfu is not the only company in China working with high-bandwidth memory. ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), a leading Chinese DRAM manufacturer, has been producing HBM2 for some time. In addition, Wuhan Xinxin joined them in March 2024 and also began producing HBM2.