Samsung Electronics is concentrating all its efforts on boosting the Production yield of DRAM for HBM4, the sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM). While the industry's most advanced 10-nanometer sixth-generation (1c) DRAM Production yield has been raised faster than expected, the effective yield required for HBM4 still needs additional improvements.
According to the industry on the 15th, Samsung Electronics' 1c DRAM Production yield has recently risen to a meaningful level. The industry estimates that the 1c DRAM Production yield has surpassed 80%, the so-called "mature yield." However, the prevailing view in the industry is that it is difficult to see this as being on the same level as the HBM4 mass-production yield right away.
Inside and outside Samsung Electronics, it is estimated that the Production yield of DRAM for HBM4 is still below 60%. The current plan is to raise the Production yield of DRAM for HBM4 to a virtually complete stage in the second half of this year, thereby enhancing responsiveness to major artificial intelligence (AI) customers, including Nvidia. For DRAM used in HBM4, additional processes such as stacking and packaging, heat control, and ensuring signal stability are required, so even with products based on the same 1c process, the difficulty level differs between general-purpose DRAM and HBM4.
A semiconductor industry official said, "HBM4 is structured to vertically stack multiple DRAMs and operate at ultra-high speeds, so it requires much higher uniformity and precision than general-purpose DRAM. Even if the individual chip Production yield has reached a certain level, the yield can drop again during the process of assembling it into an actual HBM4 finished goods," and noted, "While the improvement in Samsung Electronics' 1c DRAM Production yield is viewed positively, it is still hard to say it has reached a mature yield by HBM4 standards."
Samsung Electronics has already begun shipping HBM4. While it succeeded in technology verification and initial market entry, the dominant view is that full-scale mass-supply competition will be determined by Production yield and cost stabilization. In the HBM market, it is more important to supply volumes stably at a certain level of Production yield than to simply launch products first. If the Production yield is low, it is difficult not only to secure production volume but also to defend profitability.
The reason Samsung Electronics is accelerating improvements in the Production yield of DRAM for HBM4 is also closely related to process expenses. Samsung Electronics set a strategy to overtake SK hynix in HBM4 performance by leveraging its advanced DRAM process competitiveness, but it is known that the initial trial and error was significant. In particular, for cutting-edge DRAM, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment is essential, and Samsung Electronics is using more EUV layers than competitors, which means more process steps are required. Unless a mature yield is secured, the production cost burden is bound to be high.
In the industry, assessments of Samsung Electronics' HBM4 strategy say that while the initial entry was successful, the real battle starts now. For Samsung Electronics, bringing the Production yield of DRAM for HBM4 close to completion in the second half of this year has become the most urgent task. If the improvement in 1c DRAM Production yield is a signal of normalization in advanced processes, the stabilization of effective HBM4 yield is interpreted as the final gateway to cement leadership in the artificial intelligence (AI) memory market.