Samsung teams up with TSMC on next-generation zHBM memory
Samsung is gaining ground in high-bandwidth memory and chipmaking, good news for Samsung investors and a fresh competitive challenge to TSMC and SK Hynix.
- Samsung's share of the high-bandwidth memory market used in AI chips is rising, and Korea's KB Securities expects it to approach 40% by the end of the year.
- Sales of its newest HBM4 memory are set to more than triple this quarter, and the chip is already in full production.
- For the next generation, called zHBM, Samsung is partnering with TSMC while also offering its own one-stop package — better cooling and much faster data speeds are the selling points.
- Samsung's chipmaking yields are improving fast: its 4-nanometer process now runs above 80%, close to TSMC's level, and its 2-nanometer process has jumped from under 50% early this year to over 70%.
Outlook: Better yields should lift Samsung's contract chipmaking business and make its memory more competitive, tightening the race with TSMC and SK Hynix into next year.