Secret Knowledge
Industry attention is being drawn to the technological prowess of SK hynix, the global leader in the artificial intelligence chip market, which first developed High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) in 2013.
According to industry sources on July 16, SK hynix held a corporate presentation (IR) for securities analysts on July 12. In this session, there was a Q&A regarding SK hynix’s outlook on HBM technology.
SK hynix is confident that it can outperform competitors such as Samsung Electronics and U.S.-based Micron Technology with its unique packaging tech.
With the rise of generative AI as a hot topic in the IT industry, there is a growing interest in HBM memory chips, which have a wider bandwidth for faster data transmission speeds and larger storage capacities.
In particular, SK hynix is attracting attention as it is known to supply over 90% of the HBMs used in Nvidia’s Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), where demand related to AI has recently exploded. HBM is currently being developed under the product names of HBM (1st generation), HBM2 (2nd generation), HBM2E (3rd generation), and HBM3 (4th generation).
In the IR, SK hynix emphasized to the analysts that they have a technological advantage over Samsung Electronics and Micron. An SK hynix official stressed, “The most crucial role was the tight communication between the fabrication plant (FAB) and packaging department, as HBM required preemptive investment in post-processing.” He added, “SK hynix has been able to develop a differentiated package from competitors and secure key materials from partners on a long-term exclusive basis.”
They also highlighted the Mass Reflow Molded Underfill (MR-MUF) packaging method. MR-MUF is a technique first developed by SK hynix, and it is known that only SK hynix currently uses this technique to produce HBM. The company believes the MR-MUF method will be effective in maintaining market competitiveness in its products (HBM3E), which are scheduled to be released next year, beyond the 4th generation products (HBM3) currently in mass production.
The MR-MUF package is a process that fills and attaches the space between the chips with a material called Epoxy Molding Compound (EMC) when the semiconductor chip is attached to the circuit and the chips are stacked upward. Prior competitors used Non-Conductive Film (NCF) technology in this process. NCF is a method of stacking chips using a kind of film between them.
The MR-MUF package has a significant impact on the external structure of the HBM chip. SK hynix increased the capacity by about 50% by increasing the amount of DRAM stacked in one product from 8 (16 gigabytes) to 12 when creating a 12-layer HBM3.
Through this, SK hynix has implemented the maximum current capacity of 24 gigabytes. To increase the capacity (stacking number) while maintaining the thickness of the chip, the DRAM chips must be made 40% thinner and stacked one by one upward. However, this causes the thinner chips to bend easily. It is explained that the MR-MUF package is necessary to prevent this and maintain the thickness of the chip.
SK hynix showed little concern about the market’s worries that “Samsung Electronics could take the lead in HBM by offering both memory and logic semiconductor processes simultaneously.” An SK hynix official explained, “Customers do not want one company to dominate,” and “they currently value the collaboration between Nvidia, TSMC, and SK hynix.”
This confidence from SK hynix is noteworthy as it comes amid nervous competition with Samsung Semiconductor, which is sensitive to the recent HBM market. On July 5, Samsung Electronics DS Division President Kyung Gye-hyun stated in a “WeTalk” communication event with employees, “Samsung’s HBM product still holds a market share of more than 50%,” and “recent HBM3 products are receiving excellent reviews from customers.”
The HBM-related market is expected to grow by more than 40% annually, with fierce competition between SK hynix, Samsung Electronics, and Micron. According to the Taiwanese market research firm TrendForce, the global HBM market share was SK Hynix (50%), Samsung Electronics (40%), and Micron (10%).
It is anticipated that if SK hynix, with its 5th generation product HBM3E, extends the gap in market share, the shares of Samsung Electronics and Micron will slightly decrease to 38% and 9% respectively. President Kyung’s statement that “Samsung’s HBM share is more than 50%” directly contradicts the findings of market research firms.