Samsung will be the first to mass-produce HBM4: Securing the "next ticket" for AI storage

Samsung Electronics will be the first in the world to launch large-scale production and shipment of HBM4 after the Lunar New Year holiday, a new generation of high-bandwidth memory designed for artificial intelligence chips that leads the industry in performance. This move marks Samsung's attempt to establish a dominant position in the new generation AI storage market and make up for the market losses of the previous generation products.

According to industry insiders, Samsung Electronics has scheduled the mass production and shipment of HBM4 for NVIDIA in the third week of this month, immediately after the Lunar New Year holiday. This is the world's first mass production and shipment of the new generation HBM4.

Samsung Electronics has reportedly passed NVIDIA's quality tests in advance and received purchase orders, finalizing the production schedule after considering the release plan for NVIDIA's Vera Rubin AI accelerator. NVIDIA plans to showcase the Vera Rubin product equipped with Samsung HBM4 for the first time at the NVIDIA GTC 2026 conference next month.

This development has a direct impact on the AI chip supply chain and will change the competitive landscape of the high-end memory market.

Performance Indicators Significantly Exceed Industry Standards

Samsung Electronics' HBM4 has significantly surpassed industry standards in performance. From the beginning of its research and development, Samsung set the goal of exceeding the performance standards of JEDEC (the Solid State Technology Association) while adopting 1c DRAM technology and 4nm wafer fabrication technology.

With this combination of technologies, Samsung HBM4 achieves a data processing speed of 11.7 Gbps, which is about 37% higher than the JEDEC standard of 8 Gbps and 22% faster than the previous generation HBM3E's 9.6 Gbps. The single-stack storage bandwidth reaches 3 TB/s, which is 2.4 times that of the previous generation product. The use of 12-layer stacking technology provides a capacity of 36 GB, and if 16-layer stacking is adopted in the future, the capacity can be expanded to 48 GB.

This product enhances computing performance while adopting a low-power design, which is expected to help data centers reduce electricity consumption and cooling costs.

Capacity Expansion to Meet Surging Demand

Market conditions are favorable for Samsung. Samsung Electronics expects HBM sales to more than double this year compared to last year and has decided to install new production lines at its Pyeongtaek plant's fourth factory to expand capacity.

With its unique position as the only company in the world that simultaneously possesses logic chips, memory, wafer fabrication, and packaging capabilities, Samsung plans to maximize its competitive advantage as a comprehensive one-stop solution provider through the synergy of advanced memory and wafer fabrication technologies.

According to industry insiders, "Samsung Electronics has the largest production capacity and the most extensive product line in the world, and by being the first to mass-produce the highest-performing HBM4, it proves its technological competitiveness." The insider added, "Based on this, the company is in the most favorable position to lead the market."

Market Landscape Set for Reshaping

The realization of this mass production timeline gives Samsung an advantage in the competition with rivals such as SK Hynix. As a key component of the next generation AI accelerator, the supply capability of HBM4 will directly affect the product release rhythm and performance of chip manufacturers like NVIDIA In Samsung's latest procurement orders, the number of HBM4 samples used for customer finished product module testing is reportedly significantly increasing, indicating that its position in the supply chain of major customers is strengthening. This is of reference significance for investors assessing Samsung's competitiveness in the high-end memory market