[News] SK Hynix Begins Mass Production of 12-Layer HBM3E, Shipping to Start This Year

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SK Hynix announced today that it has commenced mass production of the world’s first 12-layer HBM3E product with 36GB of capacity, the largest for any HBM currently available, according to the company.

SK Hynix stated that it plans to deliver these mass-produced units to customers by year-end, marking another technological milestone just six months after shipping its 8-layer HBM3E product in March.

The company also emphasized that it remains the only firm globally to have developed and supplied the entire HBM lineup, from HBM1 to HBM3E, since debuting the world’s first HBM in 2013.

The 12-layer HBM3E meets the highest global standards in speed, capacity, and stability—all critical for AI memory, SK Hynix said. The memory’s operational speed has been increased to 9.6 Gbps. When paired with a single GPU running four HBM3E units, AI models like ‘Llama 3 70B’ can process 70 billion parameters 35 times per second.

SK Hynix has boosted capacity by 50% by stacking 12 layers of 3GB DRAM chips at the same thickness as the previous 8-layer product. To achieve this, each chip was made 40% thinner and stacked using TSV technology.

By employing its advanced MR-MUF process, SK Hynix claims to have resolved structural challenges posed by stacking thinner chips. This allows for 10% better heat dissipation and enhanced stability and reliability through improved warpage control.

“SK hynix has once again broken through technological limits demonstrating our industry leadership in AI memory,” said Justin Kim, President (Head of AI Infra) at SK hynix. “We will continue our position as the No.1 global AI memory provider as we steadily prepare next-generation memory products to overcome the challenges of the AI era.”

(Photo credit: SK Hynix)