Samsung Vice Chairman Personally Meets with NVIDIA to Push New DRAM Tech
Samsung is pulling out all the stops to win NVIDIA’s business for its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) modules. In an unusual move, Samsung Vice Chairman Young Hyun Jun, who also leads the company’s Device Solutions division, reportedly visited NVIDIA’s headquarters in Santa Clara, California, last week. According to Korean media, he personally delivered a sample of Samsung’s improved 1b DRAM to showcase its advancements.
This visit highlights the significance of the ongoing discussions between the two tech giants. NVIDIA, the world’s leading supplier of AI accelerators, has been a key player in shaping the high-bandwidth memory market. Its demand for memory modules is immense, fueled by massive orders from top tech companies for AI chips worth billions of dollars. Landing NVIDIA as a client would be a game-changer for Samsung.
NVIDIA had previously requested Samsung improve the design of its 1b DRAM. Samsung initially faced challenges with the 1b DRAM’s yield and overheating issues, which are believed to be the main reasons why NVIDIA has yet to approve Samsung’s HBM3E chips. Instead, NVIDIA continues to source most of its high-bandwidth memory modules from rival SK Hynix.
Samsung has been eager to close the gap. The company earlier manufactured its HBM3E modules with 1a DRAM and had planned to skip 1b DRAM entirely, jumping straight to 1c DRAM for its future HBM4 modules. However, NVIDIA requested that Samsung integrate 1b DRAM into its current offerings. This led to the personal outreach by Samsung’s top executive to demonstrate the improved product.
While there’s still no confirmation that NVIDIA will approve Samsung’s HBM chips, the personal involvement of Young Hyun Jun indicates Samsung’s determination to win the order. If successful, this could mark a major step forward for Samsung’s aspirations in the AI memory space.
