Recently, South Korean media Alphabiz reported that Samsung may exclusively supply 12-layer HBM3e to NVIDIA.

The report indicates NVIDIA is set to commence large-scale purchases of Samsung Electronics’ 12-layer HBM3e as early as September, who will exclusively provide the 12-layer HBM3e to NVIDIA.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, as per Alphabiz reported, left his signature “Jensen Approved” on a physical 12-layer HBM3e product from Samsung Electronics at GTC 2024, which seems to suggest NVIDIA’s recognition of Samsung’s HBM3e product.

HBM is characterized by its high bandwidth, high capacity, low latency, and low power consumption. With the surge in artificial intelligence (AI) industry, the acceleration of AI large-scale model applications has driven the continuous growth of demand in high-performance memory market.

According to TrendForce’s data, HBM market value accounted for approximately 8.4% of the overall DRAM industry in 2023, and this percentage is projected to expand to 20.1% by the end of 2024.

Senior Vice President Avril Wu notes that by the end of 2024, the DRAM industry is expected to allocate approximately 250K/m (14%) of total capacity to producing HBM TSV, with an estimated annual supply bit growth of around 260%.

HBM3e: Three Major Original Manufacturers Kick off Fierce Rivalry

Following the debut of the world’s first TSV HBM product in 2014, HBM memory technology has now iterated to HBM3e after nearly 10 years of development.

From the perspective of original manufacturers, competition in the HBM3e market primarily revolves around Micron, SK Hynix, and Samsung. It is reported that these three major manufacturers already provided 8-hi (24GB) samples in late July, mid-August, and early October 2023, respectively. It is worth noting that this year, they have kicked off fierce competition in the HBM3e market by introducing latest products.

On February 27th, Samsung announced the launch of its first 12-layer stacked HBM3e DRAM–HBM3e 12H, which marks Samsung’s largest-capacity HBM product to date, boasting a capacity of up to 36GB. Samsung stated that it has begun offering samples of the HBM3e 12H to customers and anticipates starting mass production in the second half of this year.

In early March, Micron announced that it had commenced mass production of its HBM3e solution. The company stated that the NVIDIA H200 Tensor Core GPU will adopt Micron’s 8-layer stacked HBM3e memory with 24GB capacity and shipments are set to begin in the second quarter of 2024.

On March 19th, SK Hynix announced the successful large-scale production of its new ultra-high-performance memory product, HBM3e, designed for AI applications. This achievement symbolizes the world’s first supply of DRAM’s highest-performance HBM3e in existence to customers.

A previous report from TrendForce has indicated that, starting in 2024, the market’s attention will shift from HBM3 to HBM3e, with expectations for a gradual ramp-up in production through the second half of the year, positioning HBM3e as the new mainstream in the HBM market.

TrendForce reports that SK hynix led the way with its HBM3e validation in the first quarter, closely followed by Micron, which plans to start distributing its HBM3e products toward the end of the first quarter, in alignment with NVIDIA’s planned H200 deployment by the end of the second quarter.

Samsung, slightly behind in sample submissions, is expected to complete its HBM3e validation by the end of the first quarter, with shipments rolling out in the second quarter. With Samsung having already made significant strides in HBM3 and its HBM3e validation expected to be completed soon, the company is poised to significantly narrow the market share gap with SK Hynix by the end of the year, reshaping the competitive dynamics in the HBM market.

Read more

• HBM3 Initially Exclusively Supplied by SK Hynix, Samsung Rallies Fast After AMD Validation, Says TrendForce
• [News] SK Hynix Reportedly Plans to Invest USD 4 Billion in Advanced Packaging Fab in Indiana

(Photo credit: SK Hynix)

SK Hynix is rumored planning to build an advanced packaging fab worth USD 4 billion in West Lafayette, Indiana. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, it is expected to commence operations by 2028, creating up to 1,000 job opportunities. This initiative may receive support in the form of state and federal tax incentives.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal and Tom’s Hardware, SK Hynix’s investment aims to enhance its capabilities in advanced semiconductor packaging, with a particular emphasis on manufacturing High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM).

Considering a potential capital expenditure of USD 4 billion for the construction, per Tom’s Hardware, if the project proceeds, it will become one of the largest advanced packaging facilities globally. Hence, government support is crucial, with expectations of tax incentives from both state and federal levels in the US.

SK Hynix, a supplier of HBM memory for NVIDIA, is eyeing enhanced capabilities in advanced chip packaging, particularly crucial for manufacturing HBM. The recent NVIDIA Blackwell B200, with each GPU utilizing 8 HBM3e chips, has also underscored SK Hynix’s role in the critical components supply chain for the AI industry.

The recent CHIPS and Science Act allocated USD 8.5 billion to Intel, enhancing US semiconductor competitiveness. SK Hynix’s plan to build a fab in Indiana is a significant stride, fostering US semiconductor growth.

However, US subsidies for chip manufacturing and packaging have been slow, with only three American companies currently benefiting, including BAE Systems, GlobalFoundries, and Microchip Technology.

Reportedly, SK Hynix’s plan remains more of an intention statement than a finalized deal, and whether it proceeds to the construction phase remains to be seen.

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• [News] SK Hynix Reportedly Invests USD 1 Billion in Advanced Packaging to Strengthen HBM Chip Leadership
• [News] SK Hynix Rumored to Propose Collaboration with Kioxia for HBM Production in Japan

(Photo credit: SK Hynix)

DRAM Spot Market:

DRAM spot prices continue to fall as channel demand has been tepid. Furthermore, the decline has become sharper recently for both DDR4 and DDR5 products. At the same time, spot traders who previously accumulated stockpiles are now eager to sell because the overall demand outlook is not particularly positive. Hence, spot prices, on the whole, are weakening. The average spot price of mainstream chips (i.e., DDR4 1Gx8 2666MT/s) fell by 0.77% from US$1.936 last week to US$1.921 this week.

NAND Flash Spot Market:

Continuing from last week, spot prices are lingering at an amplified degree of declination under the persistently sluggish demand from the channel market, though at a slightly lighter sales pressure compared to that of DRAM. For 512Gb wafers, concluded prices are sitting on about US$3.9, which are lower than contract prices, and indicate the yet-to-be recovered level of consumer demand. 512Gb TLC wafer spots have dropped by 1.98% this week, arriving at US$3.764.

Despite Western chip equipment export bans, China reportedly has imported 32 lithography systems from the Netherlands in Jan-Feb 2024, marking a 256.1% YoY growth.

According to China Customs data, Jan-Feb 2024 imports from the Netherlands totaled USD 1.057 billion, up 256.1% YoY, but down 44.8% QoQ, with 32 systems imported. January saw USD 666 million imports, up 522% YoY, down 41% QoQ, with 20 systems; February recorded USD 390 million imports, up 105.9% YoY, down 41.4% QoQ, with 12 systems.

From the data, it’s evident that in 2024, China’s imports of lithography systems from the Netherlands saw significant growth compared to the same period last year, but a noticeable decline from the previous quarter. In the first two months, China’s imports of exposure machines from the Netherlands decreased by 44.8% compared to December last year.

Per a report from IJIWEI, the average price of lithography systems imported from the Netherlands to China has increased from USD 10 million per unit since May last year to USD 30 million per unit. As of the first two months of 2024, the average price remains above USD 30 million.

According to a report by China’s Media outlet ICsmart, in terms of imports based on domestic registration locations, from January to February 2024, a total of 9 provinces and cities imported lithography systems. The top 5 importers were Shanghai (USD 303 million), Beijing (USD 145 million), Shandong (USD 131 million), Sichuan (USD 131 million), and Guangdong (USD 117 million), accounting for 28.7%, 13.8%, 12.4%, 12.4%, and 11.1% respectively, totaling 78.4%.

In June 2023, the Netherlands announced restrictions on the export of chip manufacturing equipment. According to relevant export regulations, it became difficult for Chinese companies to obtain export licenses starting from January 1, 2024.

Thus, since the second half of 2023, there has been explosive growth in the amount of exposure machines imported from the Netherlands. As per a previous report from South China Morning Post, in November 2023, China witnessed a remarkable 1050% surge in the import value of crucial chip manufacturing lithography equipment from the Netherlands.

Read more

• [News] Surge in Chip Manufacturing Equipment Imports from the Netherlands to China, Soaring Tenfold After U.S. Tightens Restrictions
• [News] Reports of SMEE Successfully Developing 28nm Lithography Machine, Original Source Deleted Shortly After

(Photo credit: ASML)

As generative AI applications fuel the era of high computing power, Foxconn’s connector subsidiary FIT announced on March 25th a cross-industry collaboration with MediaTek. Together, they will develop next-generation high-speed connectivity solutions, specifically Co-Packaged Optics (CPO), aiming to capitalize on the booming silicon photonics market.

According to a report from Economic Daily News, FIT and MediaTek have previously collaborated as upstream and downstream partners, with FIT being a leading manufacturer of custom ASIC sockets and having significant capacity for cooperation with upstream IC design firms.

This collaboration may mark their first joint venture in developing next-generation optical communication products, aiming to create CPO high-speed connectivity solutions using ASIC platforms and silicon photonics technology.

Foxconn Group Collaborates with MediaTek Across Industries

Industry sources cited by the report suggest that traditional data center transmission occurs on PCBs, whereas the CPO architecture is situated on the substrate, integrating optical communication components with switch into a module installed in a slot. This configuration shortens data transmission paths, reducing transmission losses and power consumption.

With the commercialization of generative AI, large language models require extensive computation within data centers, demanding high transmission rates to enhance operational efficiency. Traditional data transmission methods face significant signal loss, prolonging model training times and increasing power consumption. Consequently, the emergence of new network communication technology, CPO, addresses these challenges.

FIT asserts that CPO represents the next-generation optical communication transmission architecture, capable of shortening transmission paths, reducing transmission losses and signal delays, thereby providing more robust connectivity for AI computing and applications. It can be combined with the company’s existing optical communication products of 800G and 1.6T, forging ahead with next-generation network communication technology.

Through collaboration with MediaTek, they aim to offer customers more diverse and efficient connectivity solutions, driving the development of the era of high computational power.

MediaTek, as per the report, emphasized its commitment to adopting the industry’s most advanced processes, packaging technologies, and architectures, providing customers with diverse ASIC design platforms.

This initiative aims to offer the latest and comprehensive solutions to the rapidly growing data center and server markets. Collaborating with FIT on CPO further enhances their ability to deliver next-generation high-speed transmission solutions, thereby creating new market opportunities for customers.

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• [News] Silicon Photonics Reshapes the Future; TSMC, ASE Ready to Seize Market Share
• [News] Foxconn Capitalizes on AI Opportunities? Reportedly Looking at Apple’s AI Server Market, B200 Also Poised to Succeed

(Photo credit: Foxconn)