As global big tech corporations such as Google and Microsoft (MS) roll out their own artificial intelligence (AI) chips, expanding the application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) market, Meta is also reportedly planning to unveil its third-generation AI chip, "MTIA-v3," in the first half of this year. With Meta said to be adopting fifth-generation high bandwidth memory (HBM3E) in MTIA, competition among memory semiconductor corporations over HBM3E supply is expected to intensify further.
According to the industry on the 4th, Meta is expected to launch MTIA-v3 in the first half of this year. Co-developed in partnership with Broadcom, MTIA-v3 will be mass-produced using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC)'s 3-nanometer (nm; 1 nm is one-billionth of a meter) process. MTIA is understood to be equipped with HBM3E. After unveiling its first-generation AI chip, MTIA-v1, in 2023 and releasing the second-generation MTIA, mass-produced on TSMC's 5 nm process, in 2024, Meta will bring its third-generation chip to market this year.
With Google unveiling its seventh-generation AI chip tensor processing unit (TPU) "Ironwood" and MS introducing the inference AI chip "Maia 200," Meta's announcement of a third-generation AI chip is expanding the ASIC market. In the past, AI chips from Nvidia and AMD were mainly used to run AI models, but demand for in-house AI chip development is rising to cut expense burdens and maximize performance efficiency.
Market research firm TrendForce said, "ASICs are expected to account for 27.8% of the AI server market this year," and analyzed that this is "due to big tech corporations such as Google and Meta expanding their ASIC businesses."
In step with the growth of the ASIC market, competition is intensifying in the HBM market, a core component of AI chips. Until now, the HBM3E market has been led by SK hynix. It secured an edge by reportedly supplying, in effect, an exclusive share of initial volumes for MS's latest chip, following Nvidia, a major buyer in the HBM market. However, Samsung Electronics is confident about entering the market as it strengthens the competitiveness of its HBM3E products.
Although the sixth-generation HBM (HBM4) market is expected to fully take off this year, HBM3E is still projected to remain the mainstream product. While leading AI chip corporations such as Nvidia and AMD are rolling out new products equipped with HBM4, the AI chips that still dominate the market are those fitted with HBM3E. According to LS Securities, HBM3E will account for 66% of total HBM production next year, down 21 percentage points from this year's 87%, but still exceeding half.
A semiconductor industry official said, "It is true that SK hynix seized market leadership by supplying HBM3E to Nvidia ahead of others," but added, "As Samsung Electronics works closely with Broadcom, which is collaborating with Google and Meta to develop ASICs, it is expected to secure a significant share of supply volumes."