In mid-August, Samsung is said to be accelerating its progress on next-gen HBM, targeting to tape-out HBM4 by the end of this year. Now it seems SK hynix has maintained its competitive edge, as the company aims to tape out HBM4 in October, which will be used to power NVIDIA’s Rubin AI chips, according to the reports by Wccftech and ZDNet.

In addition, the reports note that SK hynix also plans to tape out HBM4 for AMD’s AI chips, which is expected to take place a few month later.

To further prepare for the strong demand from AI chip giants’ upcoming product launch, SK hynix is assembling development teams to supply HBM4 to NVIDIA and AMD, according to Wccftech and ZDNet.

Per SK hynix’s product roadmap, the company plans to launch 12-layer stacked HBM4 in the second half of 2025 and 16-layer in 2026. With NVIDIA’s Rubin series planned for 2026, it is expected to adopt HBM4 12Hi with 8 clusters per GPU.

SK hynix is the major HBM3e supplier for NVIDIA’s AI chips, as the memory giant has taken the lead by starting shipping the product a few months ago, followed by Micron. Samsung’s HBM3, on the other hand, have been cleared by NVIDIA in July, while its HBM3e is still striving to pass NVIDIA’s qualification.

According to the reports, the introduction of HBM4 represents another major milestone for SK hynix, as it offers the fastest DRAM with exceptional power efficiency and higher bandwidth.

HBM4 will feature double the channel width of HBM3E, offering 2048 bits versus 1024 bits. Moreover, it supports stacking 16 DRAM dies, up from 12 in HBM3e, with options for 24Gb and 32Gb layers. This advancement will enable a capacity of 64GB per stack, compared to 32GB with HBM3e, the reports suggest.

On August 19, SK hynix showcased the ambition on securing its leadership on HBM, claiming that the company is developing a product with performance up to 30 times higher than current HBM.

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• [News] HBM Technological Battle to be on the Next Level
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(Photo credit: SK hynix)

According to a report from wccftech,  previous claims about Xiaomi abandoning the development of its smartphone processor due to high costs were incorrect. Instead, Xiaomi is expected to release its custom solution in the first half of 2025, with its performance rumored to be equivalent to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, which was released two years ago. The chip is said to be manufactured with TSMC’s 4nm process.

The chip, as per wccftech citing sources, will be produced using TSMC’s N4P process,  which is a generation behind the Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 and MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400. However, as the shipment volume might be not as high, it is reasonable that Xiaomi might not need to opt for the most advanced manufacturing process.

Although TSMC has already introduced its 3nm process and is advancing towards 2nm, its 4nm N4P process is still competitive, as both the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Dimensity 9300 are produced with N4P.

The sources also indicate that the performance of Xiaomi’s in-house chip is similar to that of Snapdragon 8 Gen 1’s, while the 5G modem chip will be supplied by another Chinese company, Unisoc. Xiaomi’s move towards developing its own smartphone chips is expected to its reduce reliance on Qualcomm and MediaTek.

Shanghai-based fabless chip firm Unisoc, is specialized in areas including 2G/3G/4G/5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, TV FM, satellite communications and other related technologies, according to its website.

Per a previous report from wccftech, Qualcomm executives had hinted that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be more expensive than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and they may also charge partners for the 5G modem chip. By developing its own chips, Xiaomi can gain valuable experience and gradually reduce its dependence on Qualcomm.

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• [News] MediaTek and Xiaomi Opened a Joint Lab, the First Product with Stellar Performance Unveiled
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(Photo credit: Xiaomi)

Amid the AI boom driving a surge in demand for advanced packaging, Samsung Electronics announced in March its ambition to achieve record-high revenue for the business this year, aiming to surpass the USD 100 million mark. The company, which is eager to catch up with TSMC not only on the foundry but also the advanced packaging business, was said to hire former TSMC deputy director Vic Lin as Vice President of the Advanced Packaging Business Unit in its semiconductor department. However, according to a report by ijiwei, the business unit has been disbanded recently, and rumor has it that Chinese semiconductor companies are attempting to recruit Lin.

It is worth noting that before joining TSMC, Lin worked at Micron Technology. Afterwards, during his 19-year tenure at TSMC from 1999 to 2017, Lin was responsible for the application of the semiconductor giant’s over 450 U.S. patents, the report notes. His major accomplishments included securing a major collaboration deal with Apple, as well as laying a solid foundation for TSMC’s expertise in 3D packaging technology.

Nowadays, the advanced packaging business has emerged as one of TSMC’s major growth momentum, with primary customer NVIDIA having the highest demand, occupying about half of the capacity, followed closely by AMD. As the demands for AI and HPC processors keep booming, TSMC revealed plans earlier to further expand its chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) capacity at a compound annual rate (CAGR) of over 60% until at least 2026, according to a report by AnandTech.

After leaving TSMC, Lin became the CEO of Skytech, where his extensive work experience helped him accumulate substantial expertise in packaging equipment manufacturing.

In 2022, Samsung established an Advanced Packaging Task Force, which was later transformed to its Advanced Packaging Business Team in 2023, of which Lin was said to join the team as Vice President, ijiwei notes.

However, industry insiders have revealed that the team was recently disbanded, and its members have returned to Samsung’s memory department and others, the report suggests. Additionally, Lin’s two-year contract with Samsung is said to be expire soon, and it seems unlikely that Samsung will renew it.

Being regarded as a “semiconductor packaging expert,” Lin’s next move is being closely watched. Certain Chinese semiconductor companies are rumored to get in contact with Lin, but it is expected that he will prioritize opportunities to collaborate with semiconductor companies in Taiwan, the report indicates.

The report notes that Samsung has confirmed that the team had been disbanded due to an internal organizational restructuring but declined to comment on personnel matters.

Earlier in May, as part of the restructuring process, the company has disbanded its Robot Business Team as well, which was responsible for developing its first wearable robot, “Bot Fit.”

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• [News] Samsung to Intensify Efforts for Capturing Intel’s Advanced Packaging Orders Shifting from TSMC
• [News] Samsung Reportedly Commits to Advanced Packaging, Targets Over USD100 Million in Related Revenue This Year

(Photo credit: Samsung)

Kioxia has moved forward with its plans to go public, starting the process on August 23. This development follows Bain Capital, a U.S. private equity firm with a majority stake in Kioxia, submitting an application for the listing to the Tokyo Stock Exchange on the same day, according to Nikkei.

Kioxia, formerly Toshiba Memory Corporation, was spun off from Toshiba in 2018 and rebranded. Bain Capital spearheads a special purpose company that, along with South Korea’s SK Hynix, holds a 56% stake in Kioxia Holdings, making it the largest shareholder. Toshiba retains a 41% stake.

SK Hynix first invested in Kioxia in 2018, committing a total of 4 trillion won (around $2.9 billion). This investment was split between 2.7 trillion won into a private equity fund led by Bain Capital and 1.3 trillion won to acquire Kioxia convertible bonds issued by Toshiba. However, the latest report from Korean media BusinessKorea highlights that SK Hynix has faced difficulties recovering its investment due to Kioxia’s delayed IPO, failed merger attempts, and a weak semiconductor market.

Kioxia had planned to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2020, but escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China led to a postponement. In 2023, Kioxia attempted to merge with Western Digital’s memory division to better compete with Samsung Electronics in the NAND flash market, but the effort was blocked by SK Hynix.

Despite these challenges, Kioxia posted a net profit of 69.8 billion yen in the second quarter of this year, its highest second-quarter earnings, as demand for memory in smartphones and PCs bottomed out. With signs of a semiconductor market recovery, Kioxia is pushing for a re-listing to enhance its financial flexibility.

According to Nikkei, after the listing, Bain Capital and Toshiba are expected to gradually reduce their stakes through share sales. SK hynix is also likely to sell part of its stake to recover its investment while maintaining strategic ties with Kioxia and Toshiba.

BusinessKorea believes that should Kioxia achieve a high valuation and successfully go public later this year, SK Group could recover its investment, enabling SK Hynix to reinvest in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI applications.

(Photo credit: Kioxia)

According to a report from Bloomberg, Applied Materials Inc. pointed out that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has requested information regarding its federal grant applications, further intensifying the government’s investigation into the company’s operations.

Per a regulatory filing last week, the chip equipment manufacturer received a subpoena from the DOJ and is fully cooperating with the government. Reportedly, the company stated that the request pertains to certain federal award applications and information submitted to the federal government.

Applied Materials had applied for government support for its planned research center under the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act, which was expected to bolster local chip facilities.

Yet, per previous reports by Bloomberg and Tom’s Hardware, the company’s funding application was ultimately denied, leaving the USD 4 billion research center planned for Sunnyvale, California, underfunded.

It is worth noting that though the U.S. keeps tightening the export controls on the semiconductor sector, major chip equipment makers seem to become increasingly dependent on the Chinese market.

Thus, Applied Materials’ dealings with China have already been under government scrutiny. Notably, from February to April, China accounted for 43% of the total sales of Applied Materials, a 22 percentage point increase YoY.

Back in February of this year, Applied Materials had already received subpoenas from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, even before the DOJ subpoena, and was reportedly under investigation for allegedly sending equipment to SMIC, China’s leading chipmaker, through South Korea without export licenses.

Addressing the matter, Applied Materials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Read more

• [News] Funding for Applied Materials’ USD 4 Billion R&D Center Reportedly Denied by the U.S. Government

(Photo credit: Applied Materials)