NOR Flash manufacturer Wuhan Xinxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (XMC) recently disclosed an IPO counseling filing with the Hubei Securities Regulatory Bureau, according to the official website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Its recently announced bidding project may indicate its ambition to become China’s first HBM foundry, according to the report by Chinese media Semi Insights.

As per information from its website, XMC provides 12-inch foundry services for NOR Flash, CIS, and Logic applications with processes of 40 nanometers and above. Originally a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC), XMC announced in March its first external financing round, increasing its registered capital from approximately CNY 5.782 billion to about CNY 8.479 billion. Its IPO counseling filing also indicates that it is still majority-owned by YMTC, with a shareholding ratio of 68.1937%.

According to market sources cited in the same report, XMC’s initiation of external financing and IPO plan is primarily aimed at supporting the significant expansion during a crucial development phase for YMTC. Given the substantial scale of YMTC, completing an IPO within three years poses challenges. Therefore, XMC was chosen as the IPO entity to enhance financing channels.

It is noteworthy that XMC also announced its latest bidding project on HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) – related advanced packaging technology R&D and production line construction, according to local media.

The project indicates the company’s capability to apply three-dimensional integrated multi-wafer stacking technology to develop domestically produced HBM products with higher capacity, greater bandwidth, lower power consumption, and higher production efficiency. With plans to add 16 sets of equipment, XMC’s latest project aims to achieve a monthly output capacity of over 3000 wafers (12 inches), showing its ambition of becoming China’s first HBM foundry.

On December 3, 2018, XMC announced the successful development of its three-dimensional wafer stacking technology based on its three-dimensional integration technology platform. This marks a significant advancement for the company in the field of three-dimensional integration technology, enabling higher density and more complex chip integration.

Currently, XMC has made much progress in the research and development of three-dimensional integrated multi-wafer stacking technology, which has been evident in the successful development of three-wafer stacking technology, the application of three-dimensional integration technology in back-illuminated image sensors, advancements in HBM technology research and industrialization efforts, as well as breakthroughs in the 3D NAND project.

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(Photo credit: XMC)

According to TrendForce’s latest memory spot price trend report, due to relatively high level of inventories, the uptrend of DRAM spot prices is not as sharp compared with that of contract prices. Meanwhile, regarding NAND Flash prices, the spot market is not seen with much price inquiries either as the market confidence remains weak. Details are as follows:

DRAM Spot Price:
The uptrend of spot prices is not as sharp compared with that of contract prices. Currently, China’s May Day holiday has just ended, so the overall transaction volume remains low in the spot market. Furthermore, module houses have already accumulated too much inventory, so their focus is now on selling off their existing stocks. Overall, spot prices lack upward momentum in the recent period. The average spot price of mainstream chips (i.e., 1Gx8 2666MT/s) fell by 0.31% from US$1.949 last week to US$1.943 this week.

NAND Flash Spot Price:
The spot market is not seen with much price inquiries and transaction due to the certain extent of inventory being held by channels, distributors, and clients, as well as their conservative outlook on the market for the next two quarters. A number of buyers are still holding onto their low-priced inventory established from 3Q23, and are waiting patiently for market response in 3Q24 with lingering profitability in average cost. Spot price for 512Gb TLC wafers has dropped by 0.89% this week, arriving at US$3.675.

Thanks to the surge in AI demand, Samsung and SK Hynix, the world’s leading memory chip manufacturers, anticipate the prices of DRAM and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) to remain strong this year due to increasing demand for high-performance chips. According to the Korea Economic Daily, Samsung and SK Hynix have converted over 20% of their DRAM production lines to produce HBM.

Last week, SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung announced at a press conference that their HBM chips have already been sold out for 2024 and are nearly sold out for 2025.

During an investor relations meeting hosted by Samsung Securities on May 9th and 10^th, a SK Hynix official stated that the company’s HBM chips are supplied through binding annual contracts, which detail supply volumes, payment methods, and deadlines.

The price drop in HBM3 will be offset by the price increase in HBM3e, so the gross profit margin is expected to remain stable in 2024, according to the Korea Economic Daily, citing the SK Hynix official. It is also reported that NVIDIA is the major customer of SK Hynix’s eight-layer HBM3e.

According to the report, a Samsung IR executive also stated that the company’s HBM production has been sold out. Based on the current supply and demand situation, Samsung has predicted that HBM will not be in oversupply in 2025.

Samsung noted that the gap between its eight-layer stacked HBM3e and SK Hynix’s is closing, claiming it has taken the lead with 12-layer HBM3e.

In late March, South Korean media Alphabiz reported that Samsung may exclusively supply 12-layer HBM3e to NVIDIA, indicating NVIDIA is set to commence large-scale purchases of Samsung’s 12-layer HBM3e as early as September.

In terms of the price outlook for traditional DRAM and solid-state drives (SSDs), both SK Hynix and Samsung remain positive.

According to the latest forecast by Trendforce, the HBM market is poised for robust growth, driven by significant pricing premiums and increased capacity needs for AI chips. HBM prices are expected to Increase by 5–10% in 2025.

In terms of market value, HBM is projected to account for more than 20% of the total DRAM market value starting in 2024, potentially exceeding 30% by 2025.

(Photo credit: SK Hynix)

SK Hynix has updated its latest timeline regarding HBM4E, the company’s 7th generation high bandwidth memory, on Monday. According to reports from Wccftech and TheElec, the memory heavyweight’s generation changes of two-year gap has been shortened to one, and is now on track to launch HBM4E by 2026.

The news was revealed by Kim Gwi-wook, head of SK Hynix’s HBM advanced technology, during the International Memory Week 2024 held in Seoul yesterday. Earlier in February, Chun-hwan Kim, Vice President of SK Hynix, stated that the company plans to commence large-scale production of HBM4, their sixth generation of the HBM family, in 2026, as well.

According to TheElec, HBM4E will be the first chip from SK Hynix to be made through its 10-nanometer (nm) class Gen 6 (1c) DRAM. It is reportedly to be made of 32Gb DRAM and use 1c DRAM as the core die.

According to Wccftech, HBM4E’s feature bandwidth is said to be 1.4 times higher than that of its predecessor, HBM4. This indicates a significant enhancement in power efficiency, providing a preview of the advancements we can anticipate in next-gen AI accelerators.

Earlier in April, SK Hynix announced it has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with TSMC for collaboration to produce next-generation HBM and enhance logic and HBM integration through advanced packaging technology. The company plans to proceed with the development of HBM4, or the sixth generation of the HBM family, slated to be mass produced from 2026, through this initiative.

Samsung, SK Hynix’s major competitor on memory, also schedules to start mass production of HBM4 in 2026.

(Photo credit: SK Hynix)

According to TrendForce’s latest memory spot price trend report, due to a significant increase in DRAM module contract prices, some buyers are turning to spot inquiries, leading to partial transactions at lower prices. Meanwhile, NAND Flash prices have shown loosening in spot prices as certain module manufacturers adopt a more cautious approach towards future wafer price trends, reducing their inventory buildup. Details are as follows:

DRAM Spot Price:

Spot prices of DRAM chips have yet to rebound, and the overall chip transaction volume has been limited due to the tepid demand situation. Regarding DRAM modules, some spot transactions have been arranged in the lower price range as a few buyers experiencing significant increases in the contract market have sought quotes in the spot market. Currently, the May Day holiday is taking place in China, so the spot market has been rather quiet in recent days. Looking ahead, an important market indicator is whether inventory-related preparations for the 618 Sales Event will lead to a notable demand increase. The average spot price of the mainstream chips (i.e., DDR4 1Gx8 2666MT/s) has not changed from last week and is holding steady at US$1.949.

NAND Flash Spot Price:

A number of module houses, who are reserved towards future wafer price trends, are no longer building significant inventory in order to achieve austerity to maintain their cash required for operations. This has led to a loosening in spot prices. Suppliers are attempting to avoid another predicament of excessive provision by controlling product availability, though such action has proven to be quite restricted pertaining to the increase of packaged die prices. Spot prices of 512Gb TLC wafers have dropped by 0.99% this week, arriving at US$3.708.