[News] SK hynix Reportedly Set 1c DRAM Mass Production in Feb, While Samsung Delays by Six Months

---

---

Ahead of SK hynix’s upcoming fourth-quarter results announcement, another Korean memory giant, Samsung, may be in trouble again. According to MoneyToday, the company has delayed the development of its 10nm-class sixth-generation (1c) DRAM by another six months, postponing the target date to June, 2025.

SK hynix May Start 1c DRAM Mass Production in February

On the other hand, MoneyToday revealed in a previous report that SK hynix is set to become the first in the world to mass-produce DRAM using the 1c process as soon as in February.

According to the report, SK hynix has recently completed mass production qualification for 1c DDR5.

Samsung’s HBM4 Production Faces Potential Delay

However, Sources told MoneyToday that while Samsung secured its first fully functional 1c DRAM chip in late 2024, it fell short of the target yield, typically 60-70% for mass production readiness.

Notably, the delay, caused by yield issues, may also affect Samsung’s planned HBM4 mass production in the second half of 2025, the report adds.

According to the report, the industry typically considers an 18-month development cycle for each generation. While Samsung developed its 5th-generation 10nm-class (1b) DRAM in December 2022 and announced mass production in May 2023, there has been no news regarding its 1c DRAM progress since then.

The hope of catching up may becoming even more distant for Samsung, as its HBM archrival has seem to be progressing on track. According to a previous report from ZDNet, SK hynix is planning to ship HBM4 samples to NVIDIA as early as June 2025, with full-scale product supply expected to begin around the end of the third quarter.

The MoneyToday report brings up concerns that the delay in 1c DRAM development will certainly affect Samsung’s HBM plans. While DDR5 is the core product for 1c, HBM development typically follows later. If 1c DRAM production begins at the end of 2025, HBM4 production may be further pushed into 2026, as highlighted by MoneyToday.

To avoid the worst-case scenario, the report indicates that Samsung is making adjustments to the 1c DRAM design, and will do its best to speed up the development process.

Read more

• [News] Samsung Has Reportedly Ordered Equipment for 1c DRAM Mass Production, Paving the Way for HBM4

(Photo credit: Samsung)