SK hynix Announces Mass-Production of HBM4 By 2026, Primed For Next-Gen AI GPUs

SK hynix has announced mass production of the next-generation HBM4 memory, expected to commence by 2026.

So far, we have seen Micron & Samsung list their next-generation HBM4 memory products while confirming the development. These two companies have highlighted a launch timeframe of around 2025-2026, and it looks like SK hynix has also joined the game. With the rapid increase in the adoption of AI in the markets, there is demand for more enhanced computing power as we move into the future, and it is important to note that HBM has played a vital role in how AI computing has positioned itself in the modern day since it is a crucial component in the manufacturing of AI accelerators.

During a keynote at the SEMICON Korea 2024, SK hynix's vice president Kim Chun-hwan revealed the firm's intention to initiate mass production of HBM4 by 2026, claiming that it would drive immense growth in the AI markets. He believes that apart from the next-gen transition, it is important to realize that the HBM industry is faced with immense demand; hence, creating a solution that has both a seamless supply and is innovative is much more important. Kim believes that the HBM market is expected to grow by up to 40% by 2025 and has positioned itself early to capitalize on it the most.

In terms of what to expect with HBM4, a roadmap shared by Trendforce expects that the first HBM4 samples are expected to feature up to 36 GB capacities per stack, and the full spec is expected to be released around the H2 2024-2025 timeframe by JEDEC. The first customer sampling and availability is expected in 2026, so there's still a lot of time before we get to see the new high-bandwidth memory AI solutions in action. It is uncertain what type of AI products will employ the new process; hence, we can't make any predictions for now.

With SK hynix stepping into the ring, it seems like the HBM markets will get a whole lot more competitive moving forward, and it will be interesting to see which firm emerges to take the throne.