HBM chip tests for Nvidia ongoing: Samsung Electronics

[Courtesy of Samsung Electronics Co.]

Samsung Electronics Co. said on Friday that tests for supplying high-bandwidth memory (HBM) to Nvidia Corp. are progressing smoothly.

“We are working closely with several companies, testing technology and performance to thoroughly verify the quality and performance of HBM,” the South Korean chipmaker said in a statement. “We are putting out efforts to continuously improve the quality and reliability of all products to provide the best solutions for customers.”

Samsung Electronics’ statement comes after Reuters reported earlier on the same day that Samsung Electronics had failed tests to supply HBM to Nvidia due to issues such as heat generation and power consumption.

Citing three anonymous sources, Reuters said the fourth-generation HBM3, which is currently used primarily in artificial intelligence-focused graphics processing units (GPUs), and the fifth-generation HBM3E have such problems.

Nvidia declined to comment on the report.

Samsung Electronics has been working to pass Nvidia‘s HBM3 and HBM3E tests since last year, and completed tests for the HBM3E 8-layer and 12-layer products in April.

In March, Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang visited Samsung Electronics’ booth at its annual developer conference, where he marked the HBM3E 12-layer product as “Jensen Approved,” raising market expectations.

It remains unclear whether the identified problems can be easily resolved, but sources indicated that investors are concerned that Samsung Electronics may fall further behind competitors SK hynix Inc. and Micron Technology Inc. in the HBM sector.

While Samsung Electronics is the global leader in the DRAM market, SK hynix, which has been actively betting on HBM for the past decade, remains in the lead.

SK hynix has been the exclusive supplier of HBM3 to Nvidia, which controls over 80 percent of the GPU market, and started mass production and supply of HBM3E (8-layer) to Nvidia in March.

Falling behind, Samsung Electronics on Tuesday replaced the head of its semiconductor business and appointed Vice Chairman Jun Young-hyun to head the Device Solutions (DS) division, which is responsible for the chip business.