Samsung develops NVIDIA's custom NVHBM to advance 8-layer high-speed HBM4E

According to reports from Seoul Economic Daily, Samsung Electronics is developing HBM4E (seventh generation) 8-layer products that meet NVIDIA's requirements, aiming to secure its position as a core partner in the supply of customized high-bandwidth memory NVHBM. This product reduces the stacking height compared to the originally planned 12-layer and 16-layer designs. The speed specifications proposed by NVIDIA are 17-18Gbps, which is about 20% higher than the speed of Samsung's initial HBM4E samples (14.4Gbps), and will be used for NVIDIA's publicly disclosed NVLink optimized specifications for NVHBM.

The use of 8 layers, contrary to the previous logic of increasing capacity by adding more stacking layers in HBM, can reduce the difficulty of post-processing and yield pressure, which is beneficial for expanding supply and is seen as NVIDIA's strategy to alleviate memory shortages. NVHBM is expected to be applied starting with the next-generation AI GPU "Rubin Ultra," which is set to launch next year. This GPU will expand the interconnection scale between GPUs from a maximum of 72 to 576, enhancing overall computing power through hundreds of GPUs equipped with faster HBM.

In the customized HBM market, Samsung is more competitive compared to SK Hynix and Micron, as NVHBM requires DRAM and the production capabilities of logic chip-based bare die designs, which Samsung can integrate. Industry insiders say that Samsung has verified the highest speed levels in HBM4, which can provide an advantage in speed competition.