SK Hynix "Apple, Nvidia, etc. Request 'Customized HBM'"

Ryu Seong-su SK Hynix Vice President
Remarks at Icheon Forum on the 19th

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Ryu Seong-su, Vice President in charge of HBM business at SK Hynix, stated that all 'Magnificent 7 (M7)' companies, including Apple and Nvidia, are requesting customized high-bandwidth memory (HBM) products.

Vice President Ryu made this remark at the 'Icheon Forum 2024' held in the afternoon at Walkerhill Hotel in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, saying, "I worked nonstop over the weekend making calls with M7 companies." The M7 refers to seven major large-cap technology stocks among S&P 500 companies: Apple, Microsoft (MS), Google Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta, and Tesla.

HBM is an essential semiconductor for artificial intelligence (AI) chips. Unlike in the past when memory had the nature of a 'commodity (general-purpose product),' it is evolving into a 'customized' product generation by generation. SK Hynix, the 'No. 1 in the HBM market,' began supplying Nvidia with the 5th generation HBM, HBM3E 8-stack product, in March, the first among memory companies. The company is also preparing the 6th generation customized HBM4. SK Hynix aims to ship the HBM4 12-stack product applying advanced MR-MUF technology in the second half of next year and prepare to launch the HBM4 16-stack product in line with demand in 2026.

As mentioned by Vice President Ryu on this day, SK Hynix's HBM4 customers are expected to be major global big tech companies, including Nvidia.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Vice President Ryu said, "To meet their (M7's) requests, a tremendous amount of engineering resources are needed internally and across Korea, and we are running around in many ways to secure them." He added, "We are facing a major turning point of paradigm shift, with increasing demands related to customized products. We will seize these opportunities well and continue to develop the memory business."

In the afternoon session of the Icheon Forum, the second session titled 'SK's Successful AI Business Promotion' was held. Vice President Ryu explained about companies aiming to produce 'in-house AI chips using small language models (sML),' saying, "All those companies are currently discussing HBM with us," and "Not only existing graphics processing unit (GPU) companies but also new companies venturing into in-house production will deploy HBM as a major solution for the time being."

SK Hynix also introduced two directions for AI memory strategy to ensure continuous success. Vice President Ryu said, "The AI market will be segmented," adding, "One axis of our goal is to develop memory products that improve performance and power efficiency by 20 to 30 times compared to current HBM and are differentiated." He continued, "The other axis will be AI-oriented memory solutions that respond to the mass market with advanced execution capabilities."

During this event, SK Group is focusing on expanding the AI ecosystem and internalizing the spirit of its unique management system, SKMS (SK Management System). On the opening day, attendees included Chairman Chey Tae-won, Senior Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won of SK Group, Chairman Choi Chang-won of SK Supex Council, President Park Sang-gyu of SK Innovation, President Kwak No-jung of SK Hynix, President Yoo Young-sang of SK Telecom, President Lee Seok-hee of SK On, and President Chu Hyung-wook of SK E&S.