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U.S. export restrictions on NVIDIA’s H20, previously set for this week, have reportedly been delayed, giving South Korean memory firms a breather. However, as indicated by Sedaily and Business Korea, Samsung, which used to supply HBM3E for H20 last year before deliveries paused lately, is eagerly working to requalify and get back into NVIDIA’s supply chain.
According to NPR, the new export controls had been in the works for months and were nearly ready to be implemented. The White House’s sudden shift on H20 chip restrictions came after NVIDIA pledged to invest in new AI data centers in the U.S., the report adds.
Notably, the reports suggest that while Korean chipmakers can’t directly export HBM to China due to U.S. restrictions announced back in December, 2024, an exception allows “packaged HBM” combined with U.S.-made chips like NVIDIA or AMD’s. Thus, the U.S. decision to ease H20 restrictions is a win for Korean HBM suppliers.
According to Sedaily, both Samsung and SK hynix supply HBM to NVIDIA. However, the H20 reportedly uses 8-layer HBM3e products, primarily supplied by SK hynix.
On the other hand, Business Korea indicates that Samsung had been supplying HBM3e for NVIDIA’s H20 but recently paused due to regulatory concerns. Therefore, it is now working on requalification to re-enter NVIDIA’s supply chain and sustain its sales in China. Samsung had been selling significant volumes of HBM3 and lower-tier products in the Chinese market, the report adds.
As highlighted in a previous Sedaily report, Samsung, after revamping its HBM3e product design, aims to begin mass supply of the 8-layer product this month. According to another report from South Korean media outlet EBN, if things go smoothly, Samsung may receive qualification of its HBM3E 12-layer product from NVIDIA as early as May.
Chinese tech giants like Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance reportedly placed over $16 billion in H20 orders in Q1 2025, as they anticipate tighter restrictions and aiming to lock in supply amid China’s AI boom fueled by services like DeepSeek, according to Sedaily and Business Korea.
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(Photo credit: Samsung)
