Samsung plans to finalize HBM4 development in the first half of this year

Samsung has suffered billions of dollars in losses over the past few years due to problems with high-bandwidth memory (HBM). Now the company intends to rectify the situation by accelerating the development of HBM4. The South Korean tech giant plans to complete HBM4 development in the first half of 2025.

Accelerated HBM4 development

According to reports from South Korea:

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• Samsung has pushed back the deadline for completing the Production Readiness Approval (PRA) – the stage of readiness for mass production – six months earlier than planned.
• The PRA for HBM4 was originally expected to be achieved by the end of 2025, but the target has now been pushed back to the first half of the year.

The changes are due to the impact of Nvidia, which has planned to launch a new AI gas pedal (codenamed Rubin) in the third quarter of 2025. Each Rubin chip will utilize four HBM4 memories.

Any of the chips will use four HBM4 memories.

Competition with SK Hynix

Samsung faces stiff competition from SK Hynix:

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• SK Hynix is already ready to introduce its HBM4 chips in time for Nvidia’s Rubin launch.
• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met with SK Group Chairman Jae Dae-won in November 2024 to accelerate HBM4 development.
• At CES 2025, Che Dae-won said that SK Hynix’s HBM4 is developing faster than Nvidia’s expectations, putting Samsung under additional pressure.

Samsung’s HBM4 technology features

• Samsung uses 10nm 6th generation DRAM (1c) for its HBM4 chips.
• The first successful results of yielding year-round chips were achieved in October 2024. The company is now working on improving their quality.

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Critical importance of HBM4 success

It is critical for Samsung to address the overheating and performance issues of HBM4. Success in this area could significantly improve the company’s financial and market outlook as it seeks to regain lost ground in the memory segment.

Closure

The speed of development and success of HBM4 will be the defining factors for Samsung in 2025, especially amid strong competition from SK Hynix.