Samsung announces mass production of its most important chips ever

Samsung has announced that it is the world’s first company to begin mass production of sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4) chips. These memory chips will be used in some of the world’s most advanced AI accelerators. The milestone also signals Samsung’s return to leadership after falling behind rivals such as Micron and SK hynix last year.

The South Korean firm said it used 1c DRAM (10nm-class, sixth-generation) technology to develop its HBM4 chips. This is currently the most advanced DRAM manufacturing technology in the industry and gives Samsung an edge over its competitors. The company also stated that it used a 4nm fabrication process for improved performance and power efficiency and has secured stable yields for HBM4 production.

Samsung’s HBM4 chips operate at 11.7Gbps, around 46% higher than the JEDEC industry standard of 8Gbps. This is also 22% faster than the company’s fifth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM3E). Based on a single stack, total memory bandwidth can reach up to 3.3TB/s, exceeding customer requirements of 3TB/s.

The company is offering HBM4 chips in capacities ranging from 24GB to 36GB. Shipments to clients have started already. In response to customer demand, Samsung also plans to produce 16-layer HBM4 chips with capacities of up to 48GB.

Samsung further confirmed plans to introduce HBM4E chips in the second half of 2026 and custom HBM chips in 2027.

Hwang Sang-joon, Vice President of Memory Development at Samsung Electronics, said, “Samsung Electronics’ HBM4 moves beyond the precedent of relying on existing proven processes by incorporating cutting-edge technologies such as 1c DRAM and foundry 4nm. By securing sufficient headroom for performance expansion through process competitiveness and design improvements, we were able to meet customers’ growing performance demands in a timely manner.”