Samsung Electronics will double the production of HBM4 and HBM4E next year

The output of Samsung Electronics' HBM4 series next year is expected to at least double that of this year, including the sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4) and the seventh-generation HBM (HBM4E). Previously, the company planned to increase the demand for "glass substrates" to 2.5 times this year's amount. Glass substrates are the glass supports used to hold wafers when thinning DRAM for HBM. According to semiconductor industry news on the 20th, Samsung Electronics will outsource the cleaning of essential glass substrates in the HBM production process and plans to increase the number from 20,000 pieces per month this year to 50,000 pieces per month next year. Last year, only 10,000 glass substrates were needed per month, which means this year’s quantity is double that of last year, and next year’s amount will reach 2.5 times this year's.A glass substrate is a temporary support attached to the bottom of DRAM wafers for HBM, used to prevent wafer warpage or cracking during thinning and drilling processes. Since HBM must stack multiple DRAM dies within a limited thickness, wafer thinning technology and warpage control become more important as the number of stacked layers increases.Samsung Electronics is focusing on expanding the production of HBM4 and HBM4E, mainly with products using 12-High and higher stacking technology. Industry analysts believe that even though glass substrates are reused after cleaning and usage volume varies depending on process methods and yield, the number rising to 2.5 times still indicates that the output of HBM4 and HBM4E will most likely reach at least double this year's volume.In February this year, Samsung Electronics began mass production and shipment of HBM4, which uses sixth-generation 10nm-class (1c) DRAM and base dies manufactured with 4nm (nm = one billionth of a meter) technology. In May, the company also provided HBM4E 12-High samples to customers, including NVIDIA.The industry expects that, measured by average monthly wafer input, Samsung Electronics' HBM production scale will increase from about 180,000 pieces this year to about 250,000 pieces next year, a rise of nearly 40%. In terms of product shipment composition, it is also predicted that, with the full mass production of HBM4E, the HBM4 series' share will rise from about 40% this year to about 80% next year. An industry source explained: “As Samsung Electronics expands HBM production, the company seems to be placing high value-added products like HBM4 at the core.”