At the SEMICON Taiwan 2024, Samsung’s Head of Memory Business, Jung Bae Lee, stated that as the industry enters the HBM4 era, collaboration between memory makers, foundries, and customers is becoming increasingly crucial.

Reportedly, Samsung is prepared with turnkey solutions while maintaining flexibility, allowing customers to design their own basedie (foundation die) and not restricting production to Samsung’s foundries.

As per anue, Samsung will actively collaborate with others, with speculation suggesting this may involve outsourcing orders to TSMC.

Citing sources, anue reported that SK hynix has signed a memorandum of understanding with TSMC in response to changes in the HBM4 architecture. TSMC will handle the production of SK hynix’s basedie using its 12nm process.

This move helps SK hynix maintain its leadership while also ensuring a close relationship with NVIDIA.

Jung Bae Lee further noted that in the AI era, memory faces challenges of high performance and low energy consumption, such as increasing I/O counts and faster transmission speeds. One solution is to outsource the basedie to foundries using logic processes, then integrate it with memory through Through-Silicon Via (TSV) technology to create customized HBM.

Lee anticipates that this shift will occur after HBM4, signifying increasingly close collaboration between memory makers, foundries, and customers. With Samsung’s expertise in both memory and foundry services, the company is prepared with turnkey solutions, offering customers end-to-end production services.

Still, Jung Bae Lee emphasized that Samsung’s memory division has also developed an IP solution for basedie, enabling customers to design their own chips. Samsung is committed to providing flexible foundry services, with future collaborations not limited to Samsung’s foundries, and plans to actively partner with others to drive industry transformation.

Reportedly, Samsung is optimistic about the HBM market, projecting it to reach 1.6 billion Gb this year—double the combined figure from 2016 to 2023—highlighting HBM’s explosive growth.

Address the matter, TrendForce further notes that for the HBM4 generation base die, SK hynix plans to use TSMC’s 12nm and 5nm foundry services. Meanwhile, Samsung will employ its own 4nm foundry, and Micron is expected to produce in-house using a planar process. These plans are largely finalized.

For the HBM4e generation, TrendForce anticipates that both Samsung and Micron will be more inclined to outsource the production of their base dies to TSMC. This shift is primarily driven by the need to boost chip performance and support custom designs, making further process miniaturization more critical.

Moreover, the increased integration of CoWoS packaging with HBM further strengthens TSMC’s position as it is the main provider of CoWoS services.

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(Photo credit: TechNews)

SK hynix President Justin Kim shared insights on SK hynix’s current memory products and HBM-related offerings in a speech titled “Unleashing the Possibilities of AI Memory Technology.” Per a report from TechNews, he announced at Semicon Taiwan that the company would begin mass production of 12-stack HBM3e by the end of this month, marking a pivotal moment in the HBM battlefield.

He also stated that AI development is only at its first stage, with future growth expected to reach a fifth stage, where AI will interact with humans through intellect and emotion. Kim outlined AI’s key challenges, including power, heat dissipation, and memory bandwidth requirements.

The biggest challenge currently, according to Kim, is power shortages, with data centers expected to need twice the power they do now. Relying solely on renewable energy will not meet this demand, and increased power use will also generate more heat, requiring more efficient heat dissipation solutions.

Thus, SK hynix is working on AI memory that is more energy-efficient, lower in power consumption, and has greater capacity, while also offering solutions tailored to different applications.

Kim then shared the latest progress on HBM3e, noting that SK Hynix was the first supplier to produce 8-layer HBM3e and will begin mass production of 12-layer HBM3e by the end of the month. Additionally, SK Hynix introduced its latest products in DIMM, enterprise SSDs (QLC eSSD), LPDDR5T, LPDDR6, and GDDR7 as well.

Regarding technology development, Kim highlighted that HBM4 will be the first product based on a base die, combining SK hynix’s advanced HBM technology with TSMC’s cutting-edge manufacturing to achieve unparalleled performance. Mass production schedules will be aligned with customer demands.

On a global scale, Kim announced the establishment of a new facility in Yongin, South Korea, with plans to begin mass production in 2027, positioning Yongin as one of the largest and most advanced semiconductor hubs.

Moreover, SK hynix will invest in Indiana, USA, expected to start operations at a new plant in 2028, focusing on advanced HBM packaging.

Eventually, Kim stated that SK hynix will concentrate on AI business, looking to build AI infrastructure with SK Group. This includes integrating power, software, glass substrates, and immersion cooling technology, and working to become a core player in the ecosystem, overcoming challenges with partners to achieve goals in the AI era.

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Japanese NAND Flash giant Kioxia is striving for a V-shaped recovery in its performance. According to a report from Japanese news outlet 47news, benefiting from the quick rebound in the semiconductor market, Kioxia’s revenue this fiscal year is reportedly set to reach an all-time high, with operating profit nearing a historic second-highest level.

It is reported that Kioxia’s revenue for the fiscal year 2024 (April 2024 – March 2025) is estimated to reach JPY 1.6 trillion, setting a new historical high.

This is expected to be accompanied by an operating profit of around JPY 300 billion. Kioxia’s strong performance this fiscal year is in contrast with the previous fiscal year (April 2023 – March 2024), which recorded a loss of JPY 252.7 billion, the largest in its history.

The report also suggests that Kioxia is forecasted to maintain similar strong performance in the next fiscal year 2025 (April 2025 – March 2026).

The company’s highest annual revenue record stands at JPY 1.5265 trillion for the fiscal year 2021, with a peak operating profit of JPY 456.8 billion in the fiscal year 2017.

Kioxia was formerly known as Toshiba Memory. It became an independent entity spun off from Toshiba in June 2018 and rebranded as Kioxia in October 2019.

Recently, Japanese news outlet Nikkei reported that Kioxia submitted its listing application to the Tokyo Stock Exchange on August 23, with the goal of going public as soon as October.

Reportedly, Kioxia’s valuation is expected to exceed JPY 1.5 trillion (roughly USD 10.3 billion). The deal is anticipated to surpass the JPY 420 billion raised by chip equipment maker Kokusai Electric during its 2023 IPO, which was the largest of that year.

It is also expected to exceed the projected listing of Tokyo Metro in October, estimated at JPY 640 billion to 700 billion.

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(Photo credit: Kioxia)

According to a report from TechNews, in response to the temporary power outage caused by a severe thunderstorm on the afternoon of August 13th, memory manufacturer Nanya Technology announced on the evening of August 14th that the outage led to a halt in some machinery operations.

As emergency measures and safety checks were immediately implemented, all of Nanya Technology’s employees are safe, and the company is working to restore operations, which are expected to resume within 2-3 days.

Still, the power outage had led to damage to wafers, equipment repairs, and production interruptions, with an estimated loss of NTD 300-500 million (roughly USD 9.3 – 15.5 million). The exact figure will be confirmed after further assessment.

On the day of the power outage on August 13th, TechNews already reported that Nanya Technology’s plant experienced a 20-minute power outage during the incident. The uninterruptible power supply (UPS) was activated, minimizing damage in the photolithography and etching areas. However, sites without UPS are still being assessed for potential impacts.

On the other hand, memory giant Micron only experienced a voltage sag and reported no significant issues. Micron further stated that the voltage sag at its Taiwan facility due to the August 13th incident did not cause any harm to employees, and operations remain normal.

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• [News] Nanya Technology Chairman Names 10nm 1B Process as Key Expansion Focus for the Year

(Photo credit: Nanya Technology)

On August 13th, as per a report from Wallstreetcn citing industry sources, it’s indicated that SK hynix has raised the price of its DDR5 DRAM by 15% to 20%. Per the sources, the price hike by hynix is primarily due to the production capacity being squeezed by HBM3/3e. Additionally, the increased orders for AI servers downstream have also strengthened SK hynix’s resolve to raise DDR5 prices.

According to industry sources cited by Economic Daily News, for Taiwanese manufacturers, Nanya Technology has recently started mass production of DDR5, just in time to benefit from this price surge. Module makers such as ADATA and Team Group are also likely to see gains from low-cost inventory.

Nanya Technology has begun shipping its 16Gb DDR5, developed using its 1B process. Nanya Technology is optimistic that the DRAM market is on a clear path to recovery. This may due to last year’s production cuts by the three major memory manufacturers—Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron—as well as the strong demand for HBM driven by generative AI. The resulting chain reaction is expected to positively impact various types of DRAM.

SK hynix previously announced that its entire HBM production capacity for 2024 has been fully booked, with almost all of its 2025 capacity also sold out. To meet customer demand, SK hynix plans to convert over 20% of its existing DRAM production lines to mass-produce HBM.

Samsung, on the other hand, is said to be actively trying to catch up with SK hynix, looking to allocate around 30% of its DRAM production capacity to HBM.

The significant adjustments by Samsung and SK hynix to their production lines have severely squeezed the capacity for DDR4 and DDR5 DRAM, potentially leading to a sharp reduction in supply and causing prices to rise. Reportedly, SK hynix’s price increase for DDR5 primarily targets contract prices.

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(Photo credit: Nanya Technology)