SK Hynix begins development of high-bandwidth HBM4 memory next year
So far we've seen Micron and Samsung announce their own next-generation HBM4 memory chips, and now we're seeing South Korea's SK Hynix confirm the same, not letting up. This company confirmed in its blog post that in 2024, the development of HBM4 high-bandwidth memory will begin, when it will also begin its production.
Speaking about its HBM products, company manager Kim Wang-So pointed out that in 2024, SK Hynix will mass-produce an improved version of the existing HBM3 memory, that is, HBM3e chips that will offer increased speeds and capacities. However, in the same year, the company will launch the production of the next generation of this HBM4 memory, which marks a big step in the continuous development of these products.
„With mass production and sales of the HBM3e planned for next year, our market dominance will once again be at its maximum.“, the company's announcement reads. Wang-So adds that in addition, the future development of HBM4 chips will take the company to a new stage during 2024, so it will be a year to celebrate.
Considering the planned development in 2024, this means that we will not be able to see products using this type of memory until the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026. Recent information shared by Trendforce indicates that the first HBM4 samples will have capacities of up to 36 GB per chip (stack), and we could see full specifications in the second half of 2024 from the JEDEC organization.
SK HynixHBM3e memory already reaches speeds of 9.8 Gbps, so we expect the next generation to be the first to break the double-digit barrier and reach speeds of 10+ Gbps. When it comes to products, analysts expect Nvidia Blackwell to use HBM3e memory modules, so only its successor, which seems to be codenamed Vera Rubin, or the improved version of the Hopper H200 could use HBM4.