SEOUL, February 12 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics has begun mass shipments of the industry's first HBM4 high-bandwidth memory chips, the South Korean tech giant said on Thursday, looking to secure an early lead in the next-generation AI memory market.
The new chip utilizes Samsung's advanced 10-nanometer class (1c) DRAM and its proprietary 4-nanometer foundry process for the base die. It delivers stable transfer speeds of 11.7 gigabits per second (Gbps) and hits a maximum of 13 Gbps, significantly exceeding the industry standard of 8 Gbps set by JEDEC.
Samsung said the HBM4 offers a peak bandwidth of up to 3.3 terabytes per second (TB/s) per stack. It supports capacities ranging from 24 gigabytes (GB) to 48 GB, depending on the stacking configuration (8, 12, or 16-high).
The company highlighted that its integrated manufacturing capabilities—covering memory, foundry, and packaging—allowed it to optimize power delivery. The new chips improve energy efficiency by approximately 40 percent and reduce thermal resistance by 10 percent compared to previous generations, key factors for reducing operating costs in data centers.
"Samsung’s HBM4 departs from conventional methods by adopting cutting-edge technologies like 1c DRAM and a 4-nanometer foundry process right from the start," said Hwang Sang-joon, Executive Vice President of Memory Product & Technology. "We have secured sufficient headroom for performance scaling to meet customers’ rising demands in a timely manner."
Looking ahead, Samsung plans to ship samples of the upgraded HBM4E in the second half of 2026 and begin sampling custom HBM products in 2027.
Buoyed by the expansion, the world's largest memory chipmaker expects its HBM revenue in 2026 to more than triple from 2025 levels.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.