Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) has decided to use TSMC's process to manufacture the base die, a core component of the next-generation custom high-bandwidth memory it is developing for Nvidia, according to industry sources. Until now, Samsung has produced both the core die, which functions as the memory chip, and the base die, which serves as the logic chip, in-house. The decision marks a shift away from its turnkey approach to HBM manufacturing in order to accommodate Nvidia's technical requirements.
Nvidia has asked Samsung Electronics, SK hynix (000660.KS) and Micron to build the base die for NVHBM using TSMC's 3-nanometer process, industry sources said on the 18th. The U.S. chipmaker unveiled the custom HBM product in August. Nvidia also requested that the three suppliers standardize the core die on a shared sixth-generation DRAM process, known as 1c. NVHBM is based on the architecture of HBM4E, the seventh-generation and next-generation HBM standard.
Nvidia made the request because differing manufacturing methods across HBM suppliers make it difficult to deliver consistent performance for a chip it has designed. Standardization also reduces the burden of validating products from each supplier separately. Samsung's Device Solutions division, which houses the company's foundry business, decided after an internal review to accept Nvidia's demands.
Samsung worked with TSMC four years ago to ensure compatibility with the foundry's packaging process when connecting HBM to graphics processing units. This is the first time the two have cooperated at the HBM manufacturing stage.
Samsung will maintain its turnkey strategy for standard HBM products. The company applies its own 4-nanometer foundry process to the base die for both HBM4, the sixth-generation product it became the first in the world to mass-produce earlier this year, and HBM4E, the seventh-generation product now undergoing mass-production validation. The core dies for both products are made on 1c lines at Samsung's Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek campuses.
Samsung plans to stick with the turnkey approach for custom HBM supplied to other clients, including AMD. It has also left open the possibility of using its own foundry for NVHBM development and production. "Samsung is verifying whether it can also make the base die for NVHBM at its own foundry," an industry official said. "It is preparing for the possibility that NVHBM demand exceeds TSMC's production capacity."
