Samsung HBM4 has officially entered mass production, marking a significant step in the global race to supply advanced memory chips for artificial intelligence infrastructure. The South Korean technology company announced on Thursday that it has begun large-scale production and shipped commercial HBM4 units to customers.
The new high bandwidth memory chip is designed to meet rising demand from AI data centres, which require faster processing speeds and higher energy efficiency. US technology firm Nvidia is widely expected to be among Samsung’s primary buyers, according to industry observers and AFP.
The announcement comes as global competition intensifies over semiconductor technologies critical to AI computing, with South Korea positioning itself as a leading hub in advanced memory manufacturing.
Samsung HBM4 and the Expanding AI Infrastructure Market
Samsung said its HBM4 chips represent an industry first in commercial mass production, giving the company an early lead in the next generation of AI memory.
High bandwidth memory is a core component in AI accelerators and graphics processing units used to train and operate large-scale AI models. The global surge in AI data centre construction has sharply increased demand for advanced memory solutions.
According to Samsung, HBM4 delivers a consistent transfer speed of 11.7 gigabits per second, exceeding the current industry benchmark of 8Gbps by approximately 46 percent. The company stated that performance can reach up to 13Gbps under optimized conditions.
Key performance features include:
• Up to 3.3 terabytes per second memory bandwidth per stack
• Capacity options ranging from 24GB to 36GB using 12-layer stacking
• Future expansion to 48GB with 16-layer stacking
Samsung added that HBM4 improves power efficiency by around 40 percent compared to its predecessor HBM3E, while enhancing heat dissipation and thermal resistance.
“These advancements allow customers to meet escalating performance demands,” Sang Joon Hwang, Executive Vice President and Head of Memory Development at Samsung Electronics, said in a company statement.
Competition with SK hynix and Nvidia Demand
Samsung and its domestic rival SK hynix have been competing to lead production of next-generation HBM chips. Industry analyst Kim Dae-jong, a professor at Sejong University, told AFP that Samsung previously lagged in HBM3 development but has repositioned itself through early HBM4 production.
“With the early production of HBM4, it has positioned itself as a frontrunner in the competition,” Kim said.
Nvidia, currently the world’s most valuable company, designs AI hardware that depends heavily on high-performance memory supplied by manufacturers such as Samsung and SK hynix. Since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022, demand for Nvidia’s AI processors has increased sharply, placing additional pressure on memory suppliers.
Major technology firms including Apple, Microsoft and Amazon are also investing in AI-focused chips, though Nvidia remains central to global AI infrastructure.
South Korea’s AI Strategy
The South Korean government has pledged to rank among the world’s top three AI powers, alongside the United States and China. Advanced semiconductor manufacturing is central to that strategy.
Taipei-based research firm TrendForce forecasts that global memory chip industry revenue could surpass 840 billion dollars in 2027, driven largely by AI-related demand.
Samsung stated that it is expanding production capacity and investing billions of dollars in advanced manufacturing processes and upgraded production lines to meet projected demand growth. The company also expects its HBM sales to more than triple in 2026 compared to 2025.
Technical Advancements and Future Roadmap
Samsung said it used its sixth-generation 10-nanometer class DRAM process and 4-nanometer logic base die to achieve stable yields at the start of mass production.
The company confirmed that sampling for HBM4E is expected in the second half of 2026, while customized HBM products are projected to reach customers in 2027.
As AI models become more complex and data-intensive, high bandwidth memory is increasingly viewed as a strategic technology for both corporate competitiveness and national economic planning.
Conclusion:
Samsung’s mass production of HBM4 marks a new phase in the global semiconductor race linked to artificial intelligence infrastructure. With competition intensifying between leading memory manufacturers and demand from AI firms continuing to expand, advanced memory chips are set to remain a central pillar of the evolving AI economy.
