[News] NVIDIA Reportedly Visits Samsung for Final HBM3E Quality Testing as Delivery Deadline Nears

According to a report from the Korean media outlet The Financial News, citing industry sources, NVIDIA made another visit to Samsung Electronics’ Cheonan packaging plant earlier this week, roughly a month after its previous inspection. The report suggests that this visit indicates the final quality testing procedures for Samsung’s supply of its fifth-generation HBM3E to NVIDIA have officially begun.

As the report indicates, Samsung Electronics mentioned during its earnings call last month that it intends to begin supplying HBM3E (8-layer) products to “key customers” by the end of the first quarter in 2025.

Samsung plans to first deliver HBM3E 8-layer chips, followed by HBM3E 12-layer chips within the first half of this year, as the report indicates.

While the company initially considered HBM4 as the key battleground for dominance in the HBM sector, customer demand this year has rapidly shifted toward HBM3E 12-layer products. Consequently, as the report emphasizes, Samsung is now prioritizing the qualification tests for both its HBM3E 8-layer and 12-layer chips.

The report notes that Samsung is fully committed to securing the supply deal with NVIDIA, going as far as reallocating research and development personnel originally assigned to sixth-generation HBM4 to support the HBM3E project.

As stated in the report, Samsung Electronics’ Cheonan campus serves as the company’s primary hub for advanced packaging production. To secure orders, Samsung must obtain approval not only for the HBM itself but also for the packaging process, as emphasized in the report. This, according to the report, is why NVIDIA has been conducting frequent inspections at the Cheonan facility.

It is worth noting that SK hynix, as NVIDIA’s primary HBM supplier, is already providing 8-layer and 12-layer HBM3E chips to NVIDIA and unveiled the world’s first 16-layer HBM3E chips at CES 2025. As per the Chosun Daily, SK hynix intends to provide NVIDIA with samples of its 16-layer HBM3E products in the first half of 2025 to begin the certification process.

Read more

• [News] Samsung to Supply Enhanced HBM3E by Q1 End, Aims for HBM4 Mass Production in 2H 2025
•  [News] Jensen Huang: Samsung Requires a New Design for its HBMs to Pass NVIDIA’s Qualification

(Photo credit: Samsung)