Samsung Glass with Turnkey Process
Leading Global DRAM Market Thanks to HBM
NAND Depends on 3D NAND Mass Production Capability
Jeong Tae-seong, former president of SK Hynix and known as the "Legend of NAND Flash," diagnosed that high-bandwidth memory (HBM) semiconductors played a decisive role in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix outpacing the U.S. company Micron in the global DRAM market.
With the advent of the artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor era, the mass production of the current 5th generation product 'HBM3E' has begun, but he also predicted that the commercialization of the 6th generation 'HBM4' in the future will provide long-term opportunities for Samsung Electronics' foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) business. Despite various management variables such as the international trade environment, political security issues, and sales, Jeong argued that the semiconductor market competition will ultimately be decided by 'technology.'
Jeong Tae-seong, called the legend of NAND, foresaw that the development of HBM, which is gaining attention in the AI semiconductor era, will offer opportunities for Samsung Electronics' foundry business. He explained that the next-generation 6th generation HBM, being more precise, could favor Samsung Electronics, which has turnkey (one-stop) manufacturing processes. Jeong added that HBM was also a decisive factor in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix surpassing U.S.-based Micron in the global DRAM market.
On the 13th, at Dankook University in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Jeong distributed materials titled "Korea's Semiconductor Memory Industry" to attendees of the 'Advanced Business CEO Program (AHBMP)' lecture, where he predicted that there will be opportunities for Korea as HBM transitions from the current 5th generation to the 6th generation. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix recently announced the mass production of the 5th generation HBM3E.
He said, "HBM3E has 1,024 pins (I/O), which are data transmission channels, but HBM4 will double that to 2,048 pins, requiring finer foundry processes," adding, "Samsung is the only company capable of providing turnkey solutions because it operates both memory and foundry businesses simultaneously."
Jeong said, "The next-generation HBM4 will have expanded I/O and higher power consumption due to high-speed operation," and predicted that "(DRAM companies) are expected to introduce advanced foundry processes into the logic die." The logic die is the square frame individually cut from the wafer placed at the bottom of the HBM chip.
He explained that HBM changed the market landscape by analyzing the global DRAM market sales shares of the world's top three memory companies: Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron.
From 2013 to 2022, these three companies maintained a market share structure of "Samsung at 45%, SK Hynix and Micron at 25% and 20%, respectively," but last year showed some significant changes. According to his explanation, in the first quarter of last year, the market shares of these three companies were 42.8%, 24.7%, and 27.2%, respectively, but by the fourth quarter of the same year, they changed to 45.7%, 31.7%, and 19.1%. He analyzed that the decisive cause of this change was HBM.
Regarding the NAND market outlook, he predicted that the ability to mass-produce 3D NAND will determine competitiveness. Jeong mentioned that DRAM is difficult both to manufacture and sell, but NAND is difficult to manufacture yet relatively easy to sell in many markets. He emphasized the need to dominate the enterprise solid-state drive (eSSD) market. The sales proportion of eSSD compared to the total NAND market increased about fivefold, from 4% in 2013 to 21% in 2020.
Jeong stressed that although various management variables such as international trade, political security, and sales affect the semiconductor market, the ultimate competition will be decided by 'technology.' He said that while Korea's semiconductor industry may face more risks due to China's semiconductor industry expansion ambitions and the semiconductor industry promotion policies of the U.S., Europe, and Japan, the essence of the semiconductor industry, which is technological superiority, will not change. He predicted that as long as Korea does not neglect nurturing its own talent, the domestic semiconductor industry will achieve greater growth.
Before joining SK Hynix in 2016, Jeong served as vice president and head of the Quality Assurance Office of the Memory Business Division, vice president and head of the Technology Strategy Team of the DS (semiconductor) Division, and vice president and head of the Device & System Research Center at SAIT (formerly the Comprehensive Technology Institute) at Samsung Electronics. Known as the legend of NAND, he is also regarded as a memory expert well-versed in DRAM.
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