Samsung Electronics announced on May 29 that it has begun pre-delivering samples of the industry’s first seventh-generation high-bandwidth memory, the 12-layer HBM4E chip, to global customers. According to Yonhap News Agency, compared to the sixth-generation HBM4, the 12-layer HBM4E boasts a maximum pin transmission speed increase of over 20% to 16Gbps, a capacity expansion of over 30% from approximately 36GB to 48GB, and a 16% improvement in energy efficiency. Samsung also plans to subsequently offer 32GB (8-layer) and 64GB (16-layer) products to meet different customer needs. This shipment comes just three months after Samsung achieved the world’s first mass production of HBM4 in February this year, setting one of the shortest inter-generational iteration gaps for the company.
In terms of the competitive landscape, SK Hynix had originally planned to release HBM4E samples in the second half of the year. However, according to Yonhap News, thanks to smooth research and development progress, SK Hynix has decided to advance its shipment schedule and is expected to follow suit soon. The battle for the HBM market coincides with the continued expansion of demand for high-speed memory by AI chip makers such as Nvidia. This accelerated iteration by Samsung and SK Hynix also echoes the anticipated HBM supply cooperation discussions during Jensen Huang’s visit to South Korea next week.