[News] Samsung Reportedly Signs USD 3 Billion HBM3e Deal with AMD

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According to a report from Korean media outlet viva100, Samsung has signed a new USD 3 billion agreement with processor giant AMD to supply HBM3e 12-layer DRAM for use in the Instinct MI350 series AI chips. Reportedly, Samsung has also agreed to purchase AMD GPUs in exchange for HBM products, although details regarding the specific products and quantities involved remain unclear.

Earlier market reports indicated that AMD plans to launch the Instinct MI350 series in the second half of the year as an upgraded version of the Instinct MI300 series. The MI350 series is reportedly expected to adopt TSMC’s 4-nanometer process, delivering improved computational performance with lower power consumption. The inclusion of 12-layer stacked HBM3e memory will enhance both bandwidth and capacity.

In October 2023, at Samsung Memory Tech Day 2023, Samsung announced the launch of a new HBM3e codenamed “Shinebolt.” In February of this year, Samsung unveiled the industry’s first HBM3e 12H DRAM, featuring 12 layers and a capacity of 36GB, marking the highest bandwidth and capacity HBM product to date. Samsung has provided samples and plans to commence mass production in the second half of the year.

Samsung’s HBM3e 12H DRAM offers up to 1280GB/s bandwidth and 36GB capacity, representing a 50% increase compared to the previous generation of eight-layer stacked memory. Advanced Thermal Compression Non-Conductive Film (TC NCF) technology enables the 12-layer stack to meet HBM packaging requirements while maintaining chip height consistency with eight-layer chips.

Additionally, optimizing the size of chip bumps improves HBM thermal performance, with smaller bumps located in signal transmission areas and larger bumps in heat dissipation areas, contributing to higher product yields.

The adoption of HBM3e 12-layer DRAM over HBM3e 8-layer DRAM has shown an average speed improvement of 34% in AI applications, with inference service users increasing by over 11.5 times.

In view of this matter, industry sources cited by the report from TechNews has indicated that this deal is separate from negotiations between AMD and Samsung Foundry for wafer production. AMD plans to assign a portion of new CPUs/GPUs to Samsung for manufacturing, which is unrelated to this specific transaction.

Read more

• [News] Samsung Reportedly Establishes New HBM Team, Looking to Improve AI Chip Yield
• [News] Memory Manufacturers Vie for HBM3e Market

(Photo credit: Samsung)