- Samsung begins commercial shipments of HBM4 as AI memory competition heats up
- HBM4 achieves speeds of 11.7 Gbps while delivering higher bandwidth and efficiency gains for data centers
- Samsung scales production plans with roadmap extending to HBM4E and custom memory variants
Samsung says it has not only started mass production of HBM4 memory, but also shipped the first commercial units to customers, claiming an industry first for the new generation of high-bandwidth memory.
HBM4 is built on Samsung’s sixth-generation 10nm-class DRAM process and uses a 4nm logic core chip, which has reportedly helped the South Korean memory giant achieve stable yields without redesign as production increases.
This is a technical claim that will likely be tested once large-scale deployments begin and independent performance results emerge.
Capacity up to 48 GB
The new memory achieves a constant transfer speed of 11.7 Gbps, with a margin of up to 13 Gbps in some configurations.
Samsung compares this with an industry benchmark of 8 Gbps, putting the HBM3E at 9.6 Gbps. Total memory bandwidth jumps to 3.3 TB/s per stack, which is about 2.7 times higher than its previous generation.
Capacity ranges from 24GB to 36GB in 12-layer stacks, with 16-layer versions arriving later. This could increase capacity to 48GB for customers needing denser configurations.
Power consumption is a key issue as HBM designs increase the pin count and this generation goes from 1,024 to 2,048 pins.
Samsung claims to have improved power efficiency by around 40% over the HBM3E thanks to low-voltage technology through silicon and power distribution adjustments, as well as thermal changes that increase heat dissipation and resistance.
“Instead of following the conventional route of using proven existing designs, Samsung took the plunge and adopted the most advanced nodes like 1c DRAM and 4nm logic process for HBM4,” said Sang Joon Hwang, executive vice president and head of memory development at Samsung Electronics.
“By leveraging our process competitiveness and design optimization, we are able to guarantee a substantial performance margin, enabling us to meet our customers’ growing demands for superior performance, when they need it. »
The company also points to its manufacturing scale and in-house packaging as key reasons why it can meet the expected growth in demand.
This includes closer coordination between foundry and memory teams, as well as partnerships with GPU makers and hyperscalers creating custom AI hardware.
Samsung says it expects strong growth in its HBM business throughout 2026, with HBM4E sampling planned for later in the year and custom HBM samples to follow in 2027.
Whether competitors respond with similar deadlines or faster alternatives will determine the length of this early lead.
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