The South Korean tech giant, Samsung Electronics, has announced a substantial increase in capital expenditure on the production of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) this year, more than two and a half times that of previous investments. This is seen as a direct challenge to SK hynix, an existing market leader in HBM, with which Samsung had previously collaborated in 2013. Samsung’s aggressive investment strategy will continue into the next year.
As reported by Business Korea, Samsung aims to ramp up its HBM chip production to a monthly rate of 150,000 to 170,000 units by the fourth quarter of the current year. At the same time, SK hynix will launch its fifth-generation HBM3e chips, which is expected to be used in NVIDIA’s latest accelerators by next year.
Samsung commenced production of its own fourth-generation HBM3 last quarter and is capitalizing on its rivalry with SK hynix for potential NVIDIA HBM3e orders. SK hynix has reportedly completed the development of its HBM3e product and is currently in the process of certification by NVIDIA.
According to some estimates, SK hynix managed to surpass a significant milestone last quarter by generating more than $749 million revenue from HBM – corresponding to 1 trillion in South Korean won – for the first time. The company currently holds a leading position in the almost $4 billion HBM market with a share of about 20%. Samsung’s robust investment in HBM production reflects its intent to challenge SK hynix’s market dominance.
