Samsung Electronics today announced the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra and Galaxy Tab S11, delivering its most intelligent and advanced tablet experience yet. Powered by the latest Galaxy AI, now enhanced by One UI 82 and new multimodal capabilities, Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra is the thinnest Galaxy Tab to date, without compromising performance, going beyond a slim form factor to show what a premium tablet can be. Together, the series is built for effortless productivity on the go, combining pro-grade hardware with experiences optimized for a large screen.

With upgraded Samsung DeX and a redesigned S Pen, the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra supports focused multitasking and seamless workflows, while also enabling creative expression in a sleek, portable form. Whether capturing ideas in a meeting, summarizing lecture notes or sketching out visual concepts, the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra empowers users to handle more with less friction, wherever they are.

TrendForce's latest investigations demonstrate that global DRAM industry revenue reached US$31.63 billion in the second quarter of 2025, up 17.1% QoQ. This growth was fueled by rising contract prices for conventional DRAM, robust shipments growth, and expanding HBM volumes. Inventory digestion at DRAM suppliers accelerated with stronger procurement momentum from PC OEMs, smartphone makers, and CSPs, driving contract prices for most products back into positive territory.

SK hynix posted bit shipments above its targets in 2Q25. However, the higher share of lower-priced DDR4 shipments limited ASP growth. Even so, revenue surged 25.8% QoQ to $12.23 billion, boosting market share to 38.7% and securing the top spot once again.

TrendForce's latest investigations reveal that global foundry revenue in 2Q25 reached a record US$41.7 billion, up 14.6% QoQ, thanks to China's consumer subsidy program spurring early stocking, along with upcoming demand for new smartphones, notebooks/PCs, and servers launching in the second half of the year. Both capacity utilization and wafer shipments improved significantly across the top ten foundries.

Looking ahead to 3Q25, seasonal demand for new products will drive order momentum. Advanced nodes will benefit from strong demand for flagship chips, while mature nodes will be supported by peripheral IC orders. As a result, industry-wide utilization rates are expected to rise further, supporting continued revenue growth—albeit at a more moderate pace.

As we have seen with Intel, leading-edge node development is a difficult thing to maintain, unless you are TSMC. It appears that Samsung's push into cutting-edge nodes now hinges on the success of its 2 nm GAA process, which will be a make-or-break node for Samsung Foundry. As the first 2 nm product, Samsung envisioned its own Exynos 2600 flagship SoC for the first-generation SF2 node. However, potential external clients are watching closely to see whether Samsung can translate its development progress into reliable, high-yield manufacturing. This is an area where the 3 nm SF3 node reportedly struggled. If the first 2 nm ramp proves stable, it would validate months of engineering work and reopen opportunities for large-scale foundry contracts. Adding to the pressure, Samsung is already preparing a second-generation variant, known as SF2P, and work on an SF2P+ follow-up is underway. These next steps are important because they promise further gains in performance, power efficiency, and density.

Reports of a major multi-billion Dollar agreement to supply AI-focused chips on Samsung's 2 nm platform have increased expectations and put faith in Samsung's Foundry capability. Such a contract would be a meaningful commercial win, but it will count for little unless Samsung can deliver steady yields and predictable capacity. In the long term, Samsung expects multi-year demand for 2 nm wafers, which is why it is developing multiple process generations in parallel. Nevertheless, the company's reputation in bleeding-edge foundry work will be decided by whether SF2 variants, especially second-generation SF2P and SF2P+, mature quickly enough to offer both the technical benefits and manufacturing reliability customers require. Proving the first 2 nm node can scale is crucial. Still, Samsung's future competitiveness will ultimately rest on stabilizing yields and showing that its second-generation processes can sustain performance and supply over time.

TrendForce's latest investigations reveal that the NAND Flash industry posted solid growth in 2Q25 despite slight declines in ASP. Production cuts by suppliers helped ease the supply-demand imbalance, while supportive policies in both China and the U.S. fueled demand. Overall, bit shipments rose significantly, driving combined revenue among the top five suppliers up 22% QoQ to US$14.67 billion.

Looking ahead to 3Q25, demand is expected to stabilize as the effects of China's subsidies and U.S. tariff-driven stockpiling begin to fade. While ASPs may edge higher, weak consumer demand and front-loaded inventory stocking are likely to limit growth, with industry revenue projected to continue expanding but at a slower pace.

MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50, MSI's first 27" 2K QD-OLED esports gaming monitor, is equipped with Samsung Display's latest 3rd-gen QD-OLED panel and features a blazing-fast 500 Hz refresh rate, delivering exceptional clarity, rapid response, and vibrant colors—ideal for esports enthusiasts. Its 0.03 ms GTG response time and ultra-low input lag ensure precise actions during intense gameplay. The QD-OLED panel elevates brightness and contrast, with true blacks improving visibility for quicker reactions. VESA ClearMR 21000 and DisplayHDR True Black 500 certifications guarantee superior motion clarity and immersive visuals—making it the ultimate weapon for competitive gamers.

MSI OLED Care: Enhanced Protection and Flexibility
In a commitment to both performance and longevity, MSI has upgraded its OLED Care features. The new firmware extends the Panel Protect refresh interval, allowing continuous use for up to 24 hours before a mandatory pixel refresh is required. This enhancement provides greater flexibility for users without compromising the panel's durability. For those who prefer a more frequent reminder, an optional "Auto" mode is also available, which prompts for a pixel refresh every 4 hours. This user-centric approach ensures a worry-free and seamless gaming experience, reinforcing MSI's dedication to protecting your investment.

Samsung Electronics today unveiled the Galaxy Tab S10 Lite, an affordable tablet designed to elevate how users watch, create and stay productive wherever they go. With a large display for immersive viewing and a bundled S Pen for effortless creative expression, Galaxy Tab S10 Lite offers everyday versatility and great value in one streamlined device. In addition, Samsung Intelligent Features make it easy to reach new levels of creativity and productivity, while seamless connected experiences keep ideas, content and tasks flowing across the Galaxy ecosystem.

"The new Galaxy Tab S10 Lite is designed to bring practical, everyday functionality to more people around the world," said Changtae Kim, EVP & Head of New Computing R&D Team, Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics. "We built it to be a reliable companion that empowers users to get more out of every moment, with useful features and a versatile design that fits naturally into how they jump between classes and playlists, stay productive during the day or turn downtime into creative time."

The Google Pixel 10 has been officially announced, with the Google Tensor G5 SoC and 16 GB of RAM running the show, however independent performance benchmarks have yet to prove the capabilities of said Tensor G5. A recently leaked Geekbench 6 CPU comparison, however, puts forward some impressive numbers from the new SoC. According to the leaked benchmark results, posted to r/pixel_phones on Reddit, the Google Tensor G5 in the Google Pixel 10 XL scored 2,296 in single-core tests, with the multicore score coming in at 6,203 points.

By comparison, the Geekbench 6 charts list the chart-topping Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and its Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite as having a single-core score of 2,867 points and a multicore score of 9,491 points. Meanwhile, the Google Pixel 9 Pro scored just 1,876 points in single-core benchmarks and 4,337 points in multicore. This puts the Tensor G5 a solid 22% ahead of its predecessor, but still 20% behind the Samsung flagship in single-core performance. The gap grows in multicore benchmarks, however, where the Tensor G5 is still around 35% slower than the Snapdragon 8 Elite but a decent 43% faster than the G4 that preceded it. Google Tensor SoCs have never been known for their raw performance, but it's clear that Google has put some effort into making its Tensor SoCs more powerful. We will likely see more testing reveal the real-world performance improvements of the Tensor G5 when full reviews are released later this month around the phone's actual retail availability date.

Samsung Electronics' 9100 PRO is the newest addition to the company's lineup of consumer SSD products. With its PCIe 5.0 interface, the 9100 PRO offers advanced performance and seamless multitasking productivity, along with broad compatibility across laptops, gaming PCs, and game consoles. Now available in up to 8 TB capacity, it delivers even greater storage and high-speed performance for today's data-intensive applications and next-gen gaming experiences.

Expansion of SSD 9100 PRO Line-up With Two New 8 TB Models for High-Performance Users
Samsung has unveiled two new 8 TB additions to its high-performance SSD 9100 PRO series, the 9100 PRO 8 TB and the 9100 PRO 8 TB with Heatsink, designed to deliver improved thermal efficiency and sustained peak performance. These new models follow the earlier launch of the 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB versions in March, and mark a significant step forward in offering the highest capacity PCIe SSD released to date by Samsung, providing ultra-high-capacity options for gamers, content creators, and professionals demanding top-tier speed and reliability.

Samsung Electronics today announced the global debut of its all-new large-screen Odyssey G7 monitors at Gamescom 2025, the world's largest gaming event held in Cologne, Germany from Aug. 20th to Aug. 24th. Alongside the new G7 models, Samsung is also showcasing its growing glasses-free Odyssey 3D gaming ecosystem and new partnerships with major game publishers and developers and leading game studios.

"We are thrilled to unveil our latest products and new gaming partnerships at a world-leading event like Gamescom," said Hoon Chung, Executive Vice President and Head of Enterprise Business Team of the Visual Display (VD) Business at Samsung Electronics. "Our recent collaborations will deliver more authentic gameplay through optimized 3D effects tailored to each title. We will continue to lead the premium gaming monitor market by enhancing hardware performance and deepening game partnerships like these."

SK hynix has taken the lead from Samsung Electronics as the top DRAM maker worldwide signaling the first change in leadership in over three decades. The main reason for this market shift is high bandwidth memory (HBM) where SK hynix has an exclusive deal to supply NVIDIA while Samsung hasn't yet secured this partnership (it does however supply HBM3E to AMD and Broadcom). Samsung's slice of the global DRAM market dropped significantly from 41.5% at the end of 2024 to 32.7% in the first half of 2025. This 8.8% drop is Samsung's biggest market share loss since they started keeping track in 1999. The company's market position has gone back to levels not seen since 2014.

SK hynix grabbed a 36.3% market share in the first half of 2025 beating Samsung for the first time since 1992. SK hynix DRAM market share has been growing from 27.7% in 2022 to its current top spot. A key component for this growth was also SK hynix's U.S. subsidiary which reported sales of $17.79 billion in the first half of 2025, representing a 103 percent increase from the previous year. Industry analysts expect SK hynix to maintain its competitive advantage in the HBM market despite anticipated increased competition from other manufacturers.

Samsung Electronics America today announced the official launch of its Micro RGB TV, the world's first display to feature a micro-scale RGB LED backlight behind a super big and fully immersive 115-inch screen. This breakthrough display delivers brilliant brightness and hyper-realistic hues, allowing you to indulge in color like never before.

The category-defining TV is built with Samsung proprietary Micro RGB Technology, which arranges individually controlled red, green and blue micro LEDs—each less than 100 µm in size—in an ultra-fine pattern behind the panel. Unlike most conventional backlighting, the architecture enables precision control over each red, green and blue LED—resulting in an industry-first 100% color coverage of BT.2020, an international standard for color accuracy established by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Samsung Electronics America today announced the launch of the Odyssey OLED G6, the world's first 500 Hz OLED gaming monitor, and two new form factors, the 37-inch Odyssey G7 and the 40-inch Odyssey G7, to its gaming lineup. All three monitors are available for purchase in the US starting today. Building on its three-year leadership in the US gaming monitor market plus its leadership in OLED gaming displays, Samsung is once again expanding the boundaries of gaming performance with the Odyssey OLED G6 (G60SF) and Odyssey G7 (G75F) monitors.

"At Samsung, we pride ourselves on pushing the boundaries of gaming monitor innovation," said David Phelps, Head of Display at Samsung Electronics America. "With the world's first 500 Hz OLED monitor and dynamic new G7 form factors, we're delivering enhanced levels of competitive and immersive gaming and setting a new benchmark for monitor performance and design in the market."

Samsung is preparing to bring back its Z-NAND high-performance flash, marketing it as a faster and more energy-efficient option for AI workloads that struggle with the gap between memory and mass storage. The company claims that the new Z-NAND can achieve up to 15x the peak performance of conventional NAND while reducing power consumption by approximately 80%. The announcement also introduced a mechanism for GPUs or GPU-based AI accelerators to access Z-NAND directly, a concept similar to DirectStorage in gaming but tailored to transferring large model data between accelerators and persistent media. If true and implemented in real systems, those improvements would make a persistent storage tier that behaves much more like fast memory for selected AI tasks.

Still, the claims come with big question marks because Samsung has not published detailed benchmarks or clear definitions of the performance metrics involved. Historically, Z-NAND has delivered lower access latency and strong IOPS, but only modest gains in raw storage density. High costs have limited its adoption. Intel's 3DXPoint faced similar challenges and was discontinued despite its latency, low queue depth performance, and durability advantages. Meanwhile, rivals are pursuing other paths, with Kioxia pushing XL-FLASH toward very high IOPS and industry groups working on High Bandwidth Flash to boost throughput. The AI-driven demand for faster storage makes the timing more favorable now. Still, the real market impact will depend on verifiable benchmarks, price competitiveness, and ecosystem support, such as software hooks and accelerator integration. If Samsung can meet those conditions, Z-NAND could find a niche in AI infrastructure, but adoption will hinge on practical results rather than marketing numbers.

NVIDIA's and AMD's next-generation accelerators will definitely utilize a next-generation HBM4 memory, too. However, interesting news, confirmed by SemiAnalysis, is that these accelerators will utilize a customized HBM memory for the first time. In an HBM stack, consisting of stacked DRAM dies up to a 12-high, connected with TSVs, there is the possibility of embedding an optional base die with customized logic/accelerator circuitry tailored to a specific need. It appears that NVIDIA and AMD are not only exploring this option to gain more performance, but are also actively working on an implementation with a custom base that will push these accelerators ahead of any third-party ASIC solution by a third. Since everyone is trying to grab a bit of market share in the AI ASIC world, NVIDIA and AMD have to innovate their designs to stay ahead constantly.

"We expect NVIDIA and AMD to come out with their custom HBM implementations with HBM4, with other accelerator designers likely to only have a custom base die implementation by HBM4E in the 2027 timeframe," notes the SemiAnalysis post. This means that while ASIC designers, such as Broadcom and MediaTek, will have a working solution in 2027 chips, NVIDIA and AMD will have a working custom HBM4 in 2026 products. For NVIDIA, this is the "Rubin" architecture, supposed to outperform the current "Blackwell" implementation by a wide margin. For AMD, this is the Instinct MI400 series of accelerators, which is coming for the first time in a rack-scale flavor.

Intel has secured Tesla as a customer for its specialized module-level packaging services, signaling that billions of investments and years of development are appealing to external Foundry Customers. Tesla's Dojo 3 initiative will see Samsung Electronics Foundry manufacture the custom D3 AI-training chips. At the same time, Intel handles the packaging and testing using its Embedded Multi-Die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB) technology, which connects multiple dies through silicon bridges rather than a full-wafer interposer. This dual-vendor approach diverges from Tesla's previous reliance on TSMC for both fabrication and System-on-Chip packaging. Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed that Samsung will focus on mass-producing the next-generation AI6 chips on a 2 nm process, and that the packaging will leverage Intel's EMIB platform.

Tesla's decision rests on the unique demands of its ultra-large Dojo modules, which pack multiple 654 mm² dies into a single array. Traditional packaging methods struggle to handle such sizes efficiently. TSMC's SoW solution faces capacity constraints amid high demand for CoWoS services. Intel's EMIB offers higher modularity, allowing Tesla to tailor interconnect layouts and integrate additional features as needed. Samsung's 2 nm node, paired with Intel's assembly expertise, provides Tesla with optimized yield, cost control, and a faster ramp-up for its AI infrastructure. This collaboration between two historic rivals is unusual, but much needed for both foundries to survive TSMC's competition. By splitting fabrication and packaging, Tesla aims to accelerate production for its full-self-driving systems, robotics ventures, and data-center operations.

Apple today announced a new $100 billion commitment to America, a significant acceleration of its U.S. investment that now totals $600 billion over the next four years. Today's announcement includes the ambitious new American Manufacturing Program (AMP), dedicated to bringing even more of Apple's supply chain and advanced manufacturing to the U.S. Through AMP, Apple will increase its investment across America and incentivize global companies to manufacture even more critical components in the United States.

"Today, we're proud to increase our investments across the United States to $600 billion over four years and launch our new American Manufacturing Program," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "This includes new and expanded work with 10 companies across America. They produce components that are used in Apple products sold all over the world, and we're grateful to the President for his support."

US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that his administration will impose a 100% tariff on all imported semiconductors to encourage companies to build and expand chip manufacturing in the United States. Firms that establish or grow production on American soil will be exempt, although the White House has not yet specified exactly how much domestic investment qualifies. Thankfully, TSMC, being the largest and the most critical supplier of semiconductors, is already shielded from the tariff. TSMC shares jumped in early trading in Taipei after the announcement, reflecting confidence that its $65 billion Arizona fab project and an additional $100 billion US investment plan meet the exemption criteria.

Meanwhile in Tokyo, semiconductor stocks took a hit as investors weighed the prospect of higher export costs. Tokyo Electron fell over 5% at the open before paring losses to trade about 2.9% lower by mid-morning. Renesas Electronics dropped by roughly 4%, and Advantest slid 3.3%. South Korea's Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix bucked the downtrend on reports that their memory divisions would also avoid the full tariff. Samsung climbed 2.5% after Apple said it will source chips from Samsung's new Texas facility for its upcoming iPhones. Economists warn that without a clear implementation framework, the impact will remain uncertain. For companies that own production sites in the US, it would make economic sense to expand their presence, as the US is their largest client.

Normally Samsung has global launches of new products, but it seems like its Malaysian branch decided to go its own way and launch the Odyssey G7 G75F 37-inch 4K gaming monitor on its own. This appears to be a smaller and somewhat cheaper version of the 40-inch variant that is also about to launch, although both SKUs carry the same branding, which is a tad confusing. There are quite a few differences between the two, with the 37-inch G75F sporting a curved 1000R 16:9 VA panel with a resolution of 3,480 x 2,160 pixels and a maximum refresh rate of 165 Hz. The 40-inch version gets a 21:9 1000R VA panel with a 5,120 x 2,160 resolution and a higher max refresh rate of 180 Hz.

Common features include VESA DisplayHDR 600 support, an SDR brightness of 350 nits, a 3000:1 contrast ratio and a 1 ms response time. Both SKUs also have a single DisplayPort 1.4 and a pair of HDMI 2.1 ports, as well as a USB 3.2 Gen 1 two port USB hub and a headphone jack. AMD FreeSync Premium Pro is also part of the package, but there doesn't appear to be support for G-Sync compatibility. The stand is height, tilt and swivel adjustable. The 37-inch model has a list price of RM 4,399 or around US$1,030, but it's already for sale for RM 3,499 or around US$825. The 40-inch model is listed for US$1,200 at B&H Photo, but doesn't have a final launch date as yet.

Samsung Electronics today reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2025. The Company posted KRW 74.6 trillion in consolidated revenue, a decrease of 5.8% compared to the previous quarter. Operating profit decreased to KRW 4.7 trillion.

The Device Solutions (DS) Division reported an increase in revenue on the back of expanded sales of high density, high-performance memory products, but inventory value adjustments in memory and one-off costs related to the impacts of export restrictions related to China in non-memory had an adverse effect on profit. In the Device eXperience (DX) Division, operating profit declined quarter-on-quarter due to a sequential decline in sales volume following the launch of new smartphone models in the first quarter. Looking ahead to H2, the DS Division plans to proactively meet the growing demand for high-value-added and AI-driven products and continue to strengthen competitiveness in advanced semiconductors. The DX Division will seek to minimize the impact of uncertainties stemming from tariff policies that are likely to persist.

Intel in its latest 10-Q filing with the US SEC revealed that the company has been "unsuccessful to date" in attracting significant customers to its external foundry business. Traditionally dedicated to manufacturing Intel products, the company's foundry had over the years reorganized itself into Intel Foundry Services, and opened its doors to manufacturing chips for external customers the way Samsung Electronics does. While Samsung's foundry manufactures SoCs, DRAM, and NAND flash products for itself, it's also been a contract manufacturer of cutting edge logic chips. For example, NVIDIA's GeForce "Ampere" GPUs were made on a Samsung 8 nm node. Intel was eying a similar future for its foundry, however, major chip designers seem less than enthusiastic.

Intel battled foundry woes since the second half of the 2010s, when its switch from 14 nm to 10 nm took much longer than expected, and a resurgent AMD building chips on TSMC 7 nm adding pressure on Intel Products to court TSMC. The company's current "Arrow Lake" processor is made almost entirely on TSMC nodes, with its Compute tile being built on TSMC 3 nm, Graphics tile on TSMC 5 nm, and SoC tile on TSMC 6 nm. Only its Base tile (active interposer) is made on a mature Intel 22 nm node. This probably does not help Intel attract customers to its latest foundry nodes such as Intel 4, much less its upcoming sub-2 nm class nodes such as the upcoming Intel 14A. Intel Foundry Services in the filing disclosed that in the YTD, it raked in revenues from external customers of just $50 million. These are probably low-volume chip designers from the defense industry that are mandated to manufacture chips on US soil.

Tesla has entered a high volume chip supply agreement with Samsung Electronics valued at $16.5 billion, a deal seen by market observers as crucial to the fortunes of the Korean chip giant, which has been a loss-making business for the Samsung group. The deal will see Samsung supply Tesla's A16 and A15 SoCs for the various electronics of Tesla products. Leading this order will be Samsung's Taylor TX fab, which was built in assistance with the US CHIPS and Science Act, and took a $17 billion initial investment from the Samsung group. The fab broke ground in 2022.

The deal will see Tesla work closely with Samsung to optimize its manufacturing processes, ensuring that Tesla has greater control over the reliability of its chip supply, and there are no gotchas resulting from chip yields that could affect Tesla. In a post on X, Elon Musk said "Samsung agreed to allow Tesla to assist in maximizing manufacturing efficiency. This is a critical point, as I will walk the line personally to accelerate the pace of progress. And the fab is conveniently located not far from my house." Mass-production of Tesla SoCs from the Samsung Taylor Texas fab is expected to commence in late-2026. Commenting on this deal, Lee Dong-ju, an analyst at SK Securities, expects production in 2027 or 2028. Tesla sources its SoCs from both Samsung and TSMC, with the latter producing some of its SoCs in its Arizona fab.

The semiconductor industry has officially accelerated its next-generation memory development, with DDR6 standard now coming soon. Although enthusiasts won't find these modules available until 2027, key players, Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix, have already moved past prototype stages and embarked on rigorous validation cycles. In partnership with Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA, they're targeting an initial throughput of 8,800 MT/s, with plans to scale up to a staggering 17,600 MT/s, almost doubling the ceiling of today's DDR5. This increase is driven by DDR6's 4×24-bit sub-channel architecture, which requires entirely new approaches to signal integrity. Additionally, it also differs from DDR5's current 2x32-bit sub-channel structure. To overcome the physical limits that DIMM form factors faced at higher speeds, the industry is betting on CAMM2. Early indication is that server platforms will lead the change, with high-end notebooks following suit once manufacturing ramps up.

Behind the scenes, timelines are being mapped: platform validation is slated for 2026, server deployments in 2027, and broader consumer availability thereafter. This phased rollout mirrors the DDR5 journey; however, analysts predict that DDR6's architectural leap could accelerate adoption in AI and high-performance computing environments. Of course, cutting-edge technology comes with a premium: initial DDR6 modules are expected to carry price tags reminiscent of DDR5's 2021 debut, potentially limiting early adoption to hyperscale data centers and AI research labs. Yet with HPC and AI appetite for bandwidth, memory makers are targeting launch as soon as possible to satisfy the massive deployment of compute. By 2027, CAMM2-based modules running at DDR6 speeds may well define the new standard for high-performance systems.

Late last month, we reported an unexpected surge in DDR4 DRAM chip spot-pricing, just as leading memory chipmakers in Taiwan and South Korea announced plans to phase out the standard, leaving behind residual inventories to deal with leftover demand. It turns out that the nearly 1 decade-long market presence of the DDR4 standard, beginning with the 2013 6th Gen Intel Core "Skylake" processor, and continuing on until 14th Gen Core "Raptor Lake Refresh," along with AMD Ryzen Socket AM4 along the way, meant that there are simply too many devices out there with DDR4 memory and users looking for upgrades.

Digitimes now reports that South Korean memory chipmakers such as SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, have put on hold their phase-out plans for DDR4 chips, and may continue supply until they see spot pricing sufficiently falling behind that of DDR5. At the same time, the two will be walking a tight rope with supply to ensure they don't end up with bloated inventories.

Samsung Electronics achieved a significant technological milestone by securing production readiness approval for its sixth-generation DRAM technology. Industry sources, as Korea Herald reports, confirmed on Tuesday that the company received internal authorization for mass production, marking completion of the advanced 10 nm-class process (called 1c DRAM) development. We recently reported that Samsung was able to achieve yield rates of 50-70% in testing for the 1c DRAM process as the company seems to be able to follow its projected timeline of approximately two years between product generations. The development holds particular significance for Samsung's high bandwidth memory (HBM) strategy since the company plans to commence HBM4 mass production during the second half of this year utilizing the newly developed sixth-generation DRAM technology. Samsung Electronics announced on May its adoption of hybrid bonding technology for future HBM4 memory stacks. The implementation aims to decrease thermal resistance while enabling ultra-wide memory interfaces, addressing the increasing bandwidth and efficiency requirements of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing applications.

SK hynix, currently dominating the HBM market pursues HBM4 development using fifth-generation DRAM technology and started to deliver HBM4 samples to major clients in March, targeting similar production timelines for the latter half of this year. However, Samsung faces critical qualification requirements ahead as the company must deliver HBM4 samples and successfully complete NVIDIA's qualification testing to secure high-volume supply contracts. Additionally, Samsung continues awaiting qualification approval for its 12-layer HBM3E product while supplying AMD and looking for supply agreements with NVIDIA.