Micron completed the development of its 12-stack HBM in September 2024 and, since then, has been showcasing samples to NVIDIA and other potential customers.
Micron’s Chief Financial Officer, Mark Murphy, has claimed that Micron’s 12-stack HBM offers 20% lower power consumption, and 50% higher capacity compared to competitors’ 8-stack products, and he went on to say at a showcasing event that the majority of HBM production in the second half of 2025 would consist of 12-stack products.
Murphy also stated that Micron’s next-generation HBM4 is expected to enter mass production in 2026.
This is in contrast to the situation at Samsung Electronics, which appears to be lagging in HBM technology. While reports have suggested that Micron is ‘powering ahead’ with this technology, those same reports suggest that Samsung has only recently begun small-scale production of 8-stack HBM and has yet to pass the testing phase for 12-stack HBM.
Samsung is said to be planning to send samples of its 12-stack HBM to NVIDIA by the end of the month, while final approval is still required before delivery.
Samsung is aiming to begin mass production of HBM4 within the year. Reports had suggested that Samsung was gearing up for 1c DRAM mass production, but due to yield issues, with initial production in late 2024 not meeting expectations, it is reportedly redesigning it opting for larger chip sizes to boost yield over productivity and performance.
SK Hynix is also said to be speeding up the development of HBM4 to meet NVIDIA’s growing demand and is aiming to ship HBM4 samples to NVIDIA as early as June 2025, with full-scale product supply expected to begin around the end of the third quarter.
