SK Hynix has reported its financial results for the second quarter of 2024, achieving a historic high in combined revenue driven by robust demand for HBM and eSSD products tailored for AI applications. The company's HBM sales surged by over 80% quarter-on-quarter, significantly contributing to the overall performance.

Hanmi Semiconductor is set to invest 30 billion KRW (approximately 21.63 million USD) to purchase a 10,000 pyeong (approximately 33 acres) factory site in Juwang National Industrial Park, Incheon, South Korea, adjacent to its third factory. The company plans to commence construction in early next year with completion expected by year-end, focusing on the production of TC bonding machines, which are crucial for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) bonding. With the new facility, Hanmi aims to become the world's largest supplier of TC bonding machines, increasing its annual production capacity to 420 units by 2025.

The 4 nm node is Samsung’s signature chip foundry manufacturing process with a yield of more than 70%. The company uses the process for the Exynos 2400 chipset, the brain of its flagship AI smartphone Galaxy S24 series.

OPENEDGES Technology, Inc the leading provider of memory subsystem IP, is pleased to announce that its subsidiary, The Six Semiconductor Inc (TSS), has successfully brought-up and validated its HBM3 testchip in 7 nm process technology. The IP validation testchip and the HBM3 PHY were brought up within the first month to 6.4 Gbps, and further tuning has resulted in successful operation of the HBM3 memory subsystem overclocked to 7.2 Gbps.

SK Hynix is set to employ TSMC's N5 process foundation die for the construction of its HBM4 memory, marking a significant advancement in high-performance memory solutions. With the JEDEC standards for HBM4 nearing finalization, the industry anticipates the launch of SK Hynix's inaugural 12-layer stacked HBM4 products in the second half of 2025. This collaboration between TSMC and SK Hynix, solidified by a memorandum of understanding signed in April, is expected to propel the high-performance computing and AI chip ecosystem to new heights with enhanced memory bandwidth.

Industry insiders have revealed that Samsung Electronics has commenced mass production of the HBM product 'HBM3E 12-Layer' and is currently supplying it to select customers. With the capacity to stack 12 layers of DRAM memory chips using Through-Silicon Vias (TSV) technology, HBM3E 12-Layer boasts the industry's largest capacity and is set to significantly influence the overall HBM market as the predecessor to the next-generation HBM4.

The surge in AI applications has led to a significant increase in demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), prompting industry leaders like Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron to ramp up production capacities. With the current supply of HBM already depleted for this year and next, these companies are investing heavily to meet the growing demand, signaling a competitive race in the memory chip market.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are reportedly collaborating with partners to develop a laser-based wafer debonding technique for high bandwidth memory (HBM) to prevent wafer warpage. As the number of stacked layers in HBM increases, the wafers become thinner and more prone to damage during mechanical debonding. The companies are considering various laser options, including excimer and ultraviolet (UV) lasers, to address the challenges posed by advanced semiconductor manufacturing processes.

Samsung Electronics is actively expanding into the artificial intelligence (AI) memory market by developing customized high bandwidth memory (HBM). The company revealed at the "Samsung Foundry Forum 2024" on July 9th that it is working with key clients such as AMD and Apple on customized collaborations. Samsung anticipates that the commercialization of its custom HBM will coincide with the mass production of HBM4, offering enhanced performance, power, and area (PPA) options that provide greater value compared to existing products.

Samsung Electronics Co., has officially launched a team dedicated to developing advanced high-bandwidth (HBM) memory, a core chip to power artificial intelligence (AI) devices.

Micron, a leading American memory chip manufacturer, has set an ambitious goal to capture 20-25% of the HBM market by 2025, a move that has intensified competition within the industry. With SK Hynix and Samsung also vying for market share, the HBM landscape is set for significant changes as companies ramp up production and innovate to meet the growing demand for high-performance memory solutions.

In a strategic move to bolster its semiconductor business, SK Hynix has announced a substantial investment plan during its annual management strategy meeting. The company plans to invest approximately 103 trillion won (around $74.7 billion) over the next five years, with approximately 80% of this investment, equating to 82 trillion won (about $59.5 billion), allocated to high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and other AI-related fields. This initiative is part of SK Hynix's broader strategy to enhance its competitiveness in the semiconductor industry.

On July 1st, industry insiders revealed that Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology are all in the production phase of the fifth generation of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) products, specifically HBM3E. The three companies are locked in a fierce technological race. SK Hynix is currently leading in terms of production volume and supply, having started mass production of HBM3E in the second quarter. However, challenges in expanding HBM3E production capacity have emerged, with NVIDIA pressuring SK Hynix to increase supply. Micron Technology, despite its sales to NVIDIA amounting to $100 million from March to May, faces its own production challenges and profitability concerns. The industry anticipates Micron's plans for large-scale production and supply of HBM3E in the coming year, but a significant increase in supply within this year seems unlikely.

Samsung Electronics is reportedly operating its entire memory production line at maximum capacity to meet the growing demand for memory products. The South Korean tech giant is focusing on converting its traditional DRAM and NAND to cutting-edge HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) products, with the aim of expanding HBM production capacity to 170,000 units per month by the end of the year. This strategic move is driven by anticipated negative growth in traditional memory production capacity due to process conversion and the expected demand-supply gap in the memory market in 2024.

Samsung Electronics is reportedly in the final stages of negotiations to secure up to 50 trillion won (approximately $3.6 billion) in loans from the state-owned Korea Development Bank (KDB) to finance the expansion of its chip production facilities in South Korea and overseas. This loan request is part of the government's low-interest loan program, which aims to bolster the domestic semiconductor industry.