NewKerala.com

Samsung Begins HBM4 Mass Production for Nvidia's AI Chips This Month

Samsung Electronics will commence mass production of its sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory, HBM4, later this month, with initial shipments for Nvidia's graphics processing units. The chips are critical for powering generative AI systems, and Samsung has already passed Nvidia's quality certification for use in its upcoming Vera Rubin AI accelerator. This technological milestone comes as Samsung reports a record quarterly operating profit, surpassing 20 trillion won for the first time, fueled by a semiconductor supercycle. The company's sales also hit a new high, exceeding 90 trillion won in the fourth quarter.

Key Points: Samsung Starts HBM4 Chip Mass Production for Nvidia AI

  • First mass production of 6th-gen HBM4
  • Chips destined for Nvidia AI GPUs
  • Samsung passes Nvidia quality tests
  • Drives record quarterly operating profit
  • HBM4 key for next-gen AI accelerators
2 min read

Samsung to begin mass production of HBM4 chips later this month

Samsung begins mass production of next-gen HBM4 memory chips this month for Nvidia's AI GPUs, signaling a major tech advancement.

"Samsung... has demonstrated a recovery in its technological competitiveness by becoming the first to mass-produce the highest-performing HBM4 - Industry Source"

Seoul, Feb 8

Samsung Electronics will begin mass production of the world's first sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory, known as HBM4, later this month, industry sources said on Sunday.

The South Korean tech giant plans to start shipping HBM4 chips as early as next week, following the Lunar New Year holiday, for use in graphics processing units (GPUs) made by Nvidia Corp., the sources said. Nvidia's GPUs are widely used in generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems, reports Yonhap news agency.

"Samsung, which has the world's largest production capacity and the broadest product lineup, has demonstrated a recovery in its technological competitiveness by becoming the first to mass-produce the highest-performing HBM4," said an industry source, who declined to be named.

The global HBM market is currently dominated by fifth-generation HBM3E chips, but industry observers expect HBM4 to emerge as a key technology. Nvidia plans to adopt HBM4 in its next-generation AI accelerator, named Vera Rubin.

Samsung has passed Nvidia's quality certification process and secured purchase orders, the sources said, noting that the production schedule was finalised to align with Nvidia's launch plans for Vera Rubin.

The volume of HBM4 samples supplied by Samsung for customer-side module testing has also increased significantly under the latest purchase order, the sources added.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics reported a record-breaking operating profit for the fourth quarter, touching the 20 trillion-won (US$13.8 billion) mark for the first time, driven by a supercycle in the chip industry.

The fourth-quarter operating profit marked a more than 200 percent rise from a year earlier, the company said in a preliminary earnings report.

If confirmed, it would mark the first time for the company's quarterly earnings to reach the 20 trillion-won level.

Sales increased 22.7 percent to 93 trillion won. It was also the first time for the quarterly sales to surpass the 90 trillion-won mark.

The data for net profit was not available. The operating profit was 1.8 percent higher than the average estimate, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

- IANS

Share this article:

Reader Comments

P
Priya S
While this is impressive, I can't help but wonder when we will see an Indian company making such cutting-edge semiconductor breakthroughs. We have the talent, but need more investment in R&D and manufacturing. The PLI scheme is a start, but we need to move faster.
V
Vikram M
Nvidia's dominance is concerning. Their partnership with Samsung is great, but it creates a near-monopoly for AI hardware. This will make AI compute very expensive for countries like India. We need more players in this game to bring costs down.
S
Sarah B
The profit numbers are staggering! $13.8 billion in a quarter... shows how crucial the chip industry has become. Hopefully, some of that investment trickles down to the global supply chain, including the semiconductor labs being set up in India.
R
Rohit P
More speed is always welcome, but what about power consumption and heat? AI data centres already use so much electricity and water for cooling. I hope HBM4 is more energy-efficient. Sustainability should be a key metric too, yaar.
K
Kavya N
Exciting to see the pace of innovation. This will directly impact the AI services we use every day - from better language models to more accurate image generation. The future is coming fast! 😊

We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.

Leave a Comment

Minimum 50 characters 0/50