[News] Samsung vs SK hynix: Divergent Approaches for NVIDIA GTC 2025

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With NVIDIA’s GTC 2025 approaching, South Korean memory giants Samsung and SK hynix are both gearing up—but with different approaches. Interestingly, according to a report from the bell, while Samsung plans to showcase a wide range of technologies, from memory chips to liquid cooling, SK hynix appears more focused, likely highlighting its advancement of HBM.

Samsung: A Little Bit of “Everything”

NVIDIA’s GTC (GPU Technology Conference) is set to take place from March 17–21. Samsung, making a strong presence at the event, will cover various AI-related topics, including a talk on “AI Acceleration: The Impact of Memory on GPUs,” as per the report.

Meanwhile, Samsung will discuss HBM3E, the upcoming HBM4, and its latest memory solutions like GDDR7 and LPDDR5X, with a focus on their integration with NVIDIA’s Grace Blackwell platform, the report adds.

Surprisingly, the report notes that Samsung will also highlight liquid cooling with its supercomputer researcher talking on the “H100 Liquid-Cooled Supercomputer” and its role in AI and HPC efficiency, while sharing his views on LLM training optimization trends.

Additionally, a team of Samsung researchers will present on using NVIDIA’s Omniverse platform for robot-based thermal imaging and dashboard development in data centers, the report suggests.

SK hynix’s Focus: HBM and Automotive Semiconductors

Unlike Samsung, SK hynix will keep its GTC 2025 focus sharp, centering on HBM and automotive semiconductors. With strong ties to NVIDIA and TSMC, the company aims to showcase its advanced memory solutions at the event, as per the bell. Its researchers will present on HBM’s role in AI and HPC, while discussing the future of automotive memory and storage, the report indicates.

HBM progress in a Quick Recap

Back to basics, Samsung plans to supply enhanced HBM3E products to key customers by Q1 2025 and aims for mass production of HBM4 by the second half of 2025, as reported by Business Korea.

While trailing SK hynix, Samsung expanded its HBM3E supply to GPU vendors and data center customers in Q4 2024, and anticipates a significant increase in HBM3E supply by Q2 2025, though commercial demand for 16-layer stacked HBM3E products is not yet expected, the report adds.

Notably, SK hynix states that its HBM3E 16-layer products were officially developed in November, 2024. According to ZDNet, SK hynix is reportedly 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.

(Photo credit: NVIDIA)