Samsung predicts robust demand for its memory chips not only this year but also extending into 2027. Song Jai-hyuk, CTO of Samsung's Device Solutions, shared insights during Semicon Korea.
Companies developing vast cloud infrastructures to support the growing computational needs of AI, referred to as AI hyperscalers, are making unprecedented orders for memory chips, significantly driving up prices.
Samsung is concentrating on the mass production of HBM4 (High Bandwidth Memory). The company reported strong sales in Q3 of last year, spurred by high demand for the prior HBM3E format, with this trend continuing into Q4.
For the first quarter of this year, Samsung plans to sell the newly developed HBM4 memory. Corporate customers who have received initial shipments have described the chip's performance as "very satisfactory," according to the CTO.
Looking ahead, Samsung has introduced a hybrid bonding technology for HBM, which reduces thermal resistance in 12H and 16H stacks by 20%. Testing revealed an 11% decrease in temperature on the base die. The time frame for consumer availability of hybrid-bonded dies remains unclear.
Additionally, a related technology known as zHBM, stacks dies in the Z-axis, increasing memory bandwidth by four times while cutting power consumption by 25%.
Samsung HBM-PIM memory has been tested in a custom AMD Instinct MI100Moreover, Samsung is developing custom HBM designs that incorporate computational capabilities directly into the memory, known as processing-in-memory (PIM). The CTO indicates that this custom HBM design can enhance performance by 2.8 times while maintaining power efficiency.
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