According to TrendForce’s latest memory spot price trend report, regarding DRAM spot prices, since inventory levels are not excessively high, the selling pressure remains manageable. DDR4 products, though, have been suffering from the downward pressure more than DDR5. As for NAND flash, the spot market continues to sustain repercussions of sluggishness among consumer products. A number of brands are now pessimistic regarding how this wave of market enervation would persist until 1H25. Details are as follows:

DRAM Spot Price:

Due to an underwhelming peak season, spot sellers are under pressure to offload inventory, leading to a slight sell-off. However, since inventory levels are not excessively high, the selling pressure remains manageable. Meanwhile, Samsung has recently begun releasing reball DDR5 chips stripped from decommissioned modules at low prices. For instance, 2Gx8 (16Gb) chips are being sold for around US$3, contributing to the overall decline in spot prices. For DDR4 products, the plentiful supply of reball chips is exerting even more downward pressure compared with DDR5 products. Consequently, there is no sign of stabilization in spot prices. The average spot price of the mainstream chips (i.e., DDR4 1Gx8 2666MT/s) slightly decreased by 0.05% from US$1.973 last week to US$1.972 this week.

NAND Flash Spot Price:

The spot market continues to sustain repercussions of sluggishness among consumer products, where lackluster transactions are seen from client SSD, embedded products (eMMC & UFS), and memory cards. A number of brands are now pessimistic regarding how this wave of market enervation would persist until 1H25. Spot prices, compared to last week, have been continuously dropping at a small margin. Spot prices for 512Gb TLC wafers have dropped by 0.81% this week, arriving at US$3.185.

Among memory giants which are accelerating their development of next-gen HBM amid the AI boom, SK hynix, NVIDIA’s major HBM supplier, is at the forefront as it dominates the market. According to Kangwook Lee, Senior Vice President and Vice President of Packaging, though it might be the case that certain startups would choose to forgo HBM in their AI chip design due to cost considerations, high-performance computing products still require HBM, a report by Technews notes.

Lee’s attendance marks the first time SK hynix has delivered a keynote speech in SEMICON Taiwan, as he gave a presentation on September 3rd at the Heterogeneous Integration Global Summit, sharing the company’s observation on HBM trends in the future. Here are the key takeaways complied by Technews.

Customized HBM Will Be the Future

Citing Lee’s remarks, the report states that customization will be a crucial trend in the HBM sector. Lee further noted that the major difference between standard and customized HBM lies in the base logic die, as customers’ IPs have been integrated. The two categories of HBMs, though, share similar core dies.

TrendForce also predicted that HBM industry will become more customization-oriented in the future. Unlike other DRAM products, HBM will increasingly break away from the standard DRAM framework in terms of pricing and design, turning to more specialized production.

SK hynix has been in collaboration with TSMC to develop the sixth generation of HBM products, known as HBM4, which is expected to enter production in 2026. Unlike previous generations, which were based on SK hynix’s own process technology, HBM4 will leverage TSMC’s advanced logic process, which is anticipated to significantly enhance the performance of HBM products, while enabling the addition of more features in the meantime.

SK hynix: Chiplet to Be Applied Not Only in HBM But in SSD

Regarding the challenges of HBM in the future, Lee mentioned that there are many obstacles in packaging and design. In terms of packaging, the main challenge is the limitation on the number of stacked layers.

According to Lee, SK hynix is particularly interested in directly integrating logic chips with HBM stacks. On the other hand, customers are also showing interest in 3D System-in-Package (3D SIP) technology. In sum, 3D SIP, memory bandwidth, customer need alignment and collaboration will be among the challenges going forward.

Per a report by Korean media outlet TheElec, SK hynix intends to integrate the chiplet technology into its memory controllers over the next three years to improve cost management, which means that parts of the controller would be manufactured with advanced nodes, while other sections will use legacy nodes.

In response, Lee stated that this technology will be used not only for HBM but also for SSD SoC controllers.

When asked about whether some startups might choose to forgo HBM in AI chip design due to cost considerations, Lee responded that it largely depends on the product application. Some companies claim that HBM is too expensive, so they may seek alternative solutions without HBM. High-performance computing products, on the other hand, still require HBM.

Read more

• [News] SK hynix Reportedly to Tape-out HBM4 in October, Paving the Way for NVIDIA’s Rubin
• [News] SK Hynix President to Join Semicon Taiwan, Bolstering HBM Partnership with TSMC and NVIDIA

(Photo credit: SK hynix)

As per its official release, SK hynix has announced that it has developed the industry’s first 16Gb DDR5 built using its 1c node, the sixth generation of the 10nm process. Reportedly, it will be ready for mass production of the 1c DDR5 within the year to start volume shipment next year.

To reduce potential errors stemming from the procedure of advancing the process and transfer the advantage of the 1b, the company claims in the release that it extended the platform of the 1b DRAM for development of 1c.

As per the press release, the operating speed of the 1c DDR5, expected to be adopted for high-performance data centers, is improved by 11% from the previous generation, to 8Gbps.

With power efficiency also improved by more than 9%, SK hynix expects adoption of 1c DRAM to help data centers reduce the electricity cost by as much as 30% at a time when advancement of AI era is leading to an increase in power consumption.

Per a report from Businesskorea, the difficulty of advancing the shrinking process for 10nm-range DRAM technology has increased with each generation.

However, with the official release this time, SK hynix has become the first in the industry to overcome these technological limitations by achieving a higher level of design completion.

Per another report from Korea JooAng Daily, this marks a win for SK hynix, as its rival Samsung Electronics had previously outpaced it in the development of the 1b DRAM, which corresponds to nodes in the 12-nanometer range.

As designing and manufacturing large monolithic ICs became more complex, related challenges regarding yield and cost have emerged for semiconductor companies, which boosts the popularity of chiplets. Now the wave has been spreading to the memory sector. According to a report by TheElec, SK hynix intends to integrate the chiplet technology into its memory controllers over the next three years to improve cost management.

In January, the company applied for a brand name called MOSAIC, which represents its chiplet technology, the report notes.

Citing SK hynix Executive Vice President Moon Ki-ill, the report notes that the company currently collaborates with TSMC as the foundry for manufacturing its controllers.

However, within the next two to three years, parts of the controller would be manufactured with advanced nodes, while other sections will use legacy nodes, the report states. Moon added that the company is currently developing technology to connect these different sections.

Moon further explains that while TSMC manufactures the controllers for SK hynix, the memory giant itself is responsible for the packaging work. In the future, under the structure of chiplets, a chip can be divided into separate parts with various functions, and then reconnected to achieve similar performances as if they were a single integrated chip, according to TheElec.

In this scenario, function A might use TSMC’s 7nm node, while function B and C could be produced using legacy nodes from TSMC or another foundry. This approach would enables SK hynix to better manage the costs of its DRAM and NAND products, the report notes.

According to the definition of EDA and Intelligent System Design provider Cadence, chiplet technology results in versatile and customizable modular chips, which leads to reduced development timelines and costs.

The creation and adoption of chiplet standards like UCIe enable seamless integration of chiplets into System-on-Chips (SoCs), unlocking new possibilities in computing and technology applications, according to Cadence.

In addition to SK hynix, Samsung has also brought up plans to adopt the chiplet technology. In July, according to an announcement with Japanese startup Preferred Networks, the two companies plan to showcase groundbreaking AI chiplet solutions for the next-generation data center and generative AI computing market.

According to an earlier report by Gizmochina, Samsung is also said to be mulling to apply 3D chiplet technology to its Exynos mobile APs.

Read more

• [News] The Era of Heterogeneous Integration Approaches: Who Shall Dominate the Advanced Packaging Field?

(Photo credit: SK hynix)

According to TrendForce’s latest memory spot price trend report, regarding DRAM spot prices, improvements are unlikely in the near term as reballed chip supply remains plentiful and DDR5 price pressure emerges. As for NAND flash, several suppliers have also lowered their official prices amidst ongoing sluggishness of demand. Details are as follows:

DRAM Spot Price:

The spot market has shown no signs of improvement this week and prices continue to fall. In addition to weak channel demand, the supply of reballed chips also remains plentiful. Moreover, a South Korean supplier has recently slightly increased its supply of DDR5 products to the spot market, generating more downward price pressure. Hence, improvements in current spot price trends are unlikely in the near term. The average spot price of the mainstream chips (i.e., DDR4 1Gx8 2666MT/s) dropped by 0.25% from US$1.978 last week to US$1.973 this week.

NAND Flash Spot Price:

Several suppliers have lowered their official prices amidst ongoing sluggishness of demand, and spot prices could continue to weaken if demand for consumer products remains lackluster. Spot prices for 512Gb TLC wafers have dropped by 0.71% this week, arriving at US$3.211.