[News] Where is the “Spring” of the Memory Market?

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As 2025 begins, among the three major end-application markets for memory, the recovery momentum for mobile phones and laptops remains weak. Meanwhile, servers, driven by the strong demand for AI continue to grow steadily, which is expected to further drive semiconductor development.

AI presents new opportunities for the memory market, with high-capacity and high-performance memory in high demand. The market outlook for HBM and enterprise SSDs is promising, attracting major memory manufacturers to continue investing and expanding their presence.

Rapid Iteration of HBM

High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), known for its low latency and high bandwidth, has become the ideal choice for AI applications. According to data from global market research firm TrendForce, HBM bit demand growth is expected to reach nearly 200% in 2024, with demand doubling again in 2025.

With the iteration of key GPU products from NVIDIA and AMD and the evolution of HBM specifications, the market is gradually transitioning from HBM3 to HBM3e. Meanwhile, next-generation HBM technology is also gaining increasing attention.

Currently, the global HBM market is dominated by SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron.

SK hynix announced in April 2024 that it would adopt TSMC’s advanced process technology for HBM4 production in 2025 and plans to achieve mass production by 2026. Additionally, reports suggest that SK Hynix aims to launch 12-layer HBM4 in the second half of 2025 and 16-layer HBM4 in 2026.

Micron is expected to begin mass production of HBM4 in 2026, with HBM4e set to debut between 2027 and 2028. Micron’s adoption of TSMC’s advanced logic foundry technology to customize logic-based chips for certain customers is anticipated to improve its future performance.

Samsung Electronics is developing sixth-generation, customized high-bandwidth memory (HBM4) tailored for Microsoft and Meta platforms. Samsung aims to complete HBM4 development before 2025 and ramp up mass production.

As a significant advancement in memory technology, HBM4 is gaining strong attention and investment from major global memory manufacturers. Additionally, HBM5 is considered crucial, with industry insiders suggesting that it may revolutionize the HBM business model.

In October 2024, a TrendForce survey revealed that the three major HBM manufacturers are considering whether to adopt Hybrid Bonding for HBM4 16hi and have already decided to implement this technology in HBM5 20hi.

The QLC SSD Trend Continues

The AI boom has generated massive data storage and computing demands, benefiting both HBM and enterprise SSDs.

Compared to SLC, MLC, and TLC technologies, QLC technology allows for higher data storage capacity within the same physical space, making it well-suited for big data and cloud computing applications.

Solidigm has developed and delivered products such as the D5-P5336 61.44TB QLC SSD, boasting durability levels far exceeding traditional HDDs.

SK hynix announced on December 18, 2024, that it had developed the PS1012, a high-capacity SSD designed for AI data centers.

The company plans to expand its product line to 122TB by Q3 2025. The PS1012 features the latest fifth-generation PCIe, doubling bandwidth compared to fourth-gen products. This results in data transfer speeds of up to 32GT/s, with sequential read performance reaching 13GB/s, double that of previous-generation products.

Samsung has begun mass production of 1Tb QLC ninth-generation V-NAND memory, offering a full range of advanced SSD solutions to meet AI-era demands. Samsung also plans to solidify its leadership in the enterprise SSD market through ninth-generation QLC and TLC V-NAND technology.

Kioxia’s eighth-generation BiCS FLASH 2Tb QLC has entered the sampling phase. The new QLC product architecture allows for 16 chip stacking within a single memory package, providing a leading 4TB capacity.

In China, DapuStor was the first domestic company to launch QLC enterprise SSDs, starting with the J5000 series (15.36TB capacity) and later introducing the J5060 QLC SSD series, with a maximum capacity of 61.44TB.

Conclusion

The continuous emergence of AI-driven applications is bringing new growth opportunities to the memory industry. With ongoing technological advancements and market expansion, HBM and QLC SSDs will become essential components of the memory sector, providing efficient and reliable storage solutions for big data, AI, and cloud storage applications.

Looking ahead, more innovative storage products and technologies will continue to emerge, driving the sustained development of the storage industry.

(Photo credit: Micron)