"NVIDIA Delivery Test Failure Report Met with Unusual Official Rebuttal
'Continuous Technology and Performance Testing'"
Samsung Electronics has strongly denied foreign media reports claiming that it failed to pass the quality test (qual test) for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) intended for supply to Nvidia.
On the 24th, Samsung Electronics issued an official statement saying, "We are smoothly conducting tests for HBM supply with various global partners."
It is considered unusual for Samsung Electronics to officially refute such reports. Earlier, major foreign media outlets reported on the 23rd (local time), citing multiple anonymous sources, that Samsung Electronics had not yet passed the tests to supply HBM to the U.S. semiconductor company Nvidia due to issues such as heat generation and power consumption of the HBM.
Samsung Electronics HBM3E 12H DRAM product image. [Photo by Samsung Electronics] [Image source=Yonhap News]
Samsung Electronics explained, "We are currently working closely with numerous companies and continuously testing technology and performance," adding, "We are conducting various tests to thoroughly verify the quality and performance of HBM."
It further stated, "Samsung Electronics is committed to continuous quality improvement and reliability enhancement for all products, and through this, we plan to provide the best solutions to our customers."
At the same time, it requested caution in reporting, saying, "Reports related to tests at specific points in time raised by some may damage our company's image and credibility."
HBM is a semiconductor that stacks multiple DRAM chips vertically to enhance data processing performance. It is attached next to graphics processing unit (GPU) processors made by companies like Nvidia to increase speed, making it an essential semiconductor in the era of artificial intelligence (AI). Samsung Electronics has developed the world's first 36-gigabyte (GB) capacity HBM3E (5th generation HBM) 12-stack (H) and has sent samples to Nvidia.
Having lost the lead in HBM to SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics has been conducting a project to regain HBM competitiveness this year by organizing an HBM task force (TF). Recently, due to an urgent call from Nvidia, Hwang Sang-jun, head of the HBM TF and vice president of the DRAM development office, traveled to the United States.
Since Nvidia is also trying to reduce its dependence on SK Hynix, there are expectations that if Samsung meets a certain level of performance, it could supply HBM sooner than anticipated. According to Meritz Securities' data, the HBM market share in the first quarter of this year was about 59% for SK Hynix and 37% for Samsung Electronics.
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