SK Hynix is approaching a pivotal moment in the HBM market. On March 10, South Korean Citrini7 analyst Jukan stated on platform X that, according to semiconductor industry sources, the company will soon submit final samples of its sixth-generation High Bandwidth Memory (HBM4) to NVIDIA. If the samples pass NVIDIA's qualification tests, the company could receive a mass production purchase order as early as this month. These samples are the result of multiple design revisions undertaken by SK Hynix since the fourth quarter of last year, with the goal of meeting NVIDIA's requirement for a maximum data transfer rate of 11.7 Gb/s. The context for this qualification test is particularly delicate. Samsung Electronics began supplying some HBM4 finished products to NVIDIA in February of this year, claiming it started mass production and shipment "without any redesign," thereby gaining an early advantage in the commercialization of HBM4. If SK Hynix fails to pass the certification this time, the title of "primary HBM4 supplier" could shift to Samsung. This submission represents a final effort after multiple rounds of optimization. The final HBM4 samples submitted by SK Hynix to NVIDIA have undergone several optimization iterations. Citing semiconductor industry sources, the article notes that since certification testing began in late October last year, compatibility issues were identified between the HBM4 and specific circuits in NVIDIA's Rubin GPU. SK Hynix enhanced circuit characteristics and reduced the inter-layer spacing of stacked chips to improve chip speed, while NVIDIA also provided assistance on multiple fronts. These issues have reportedly now been resolved. HBM4 is a core memory component for NVIDIA's next-generation AI accelerator, Rubin, which is expected to be released in the second half of this year. As SK Hynix's flagship product for 2025, HBM4 significantly outperforms traditional DRAM in both capacity and data transfer speed by vertically stacking multiple layers of DRAM chips. The core of this certification lies not only in a simple pass/fail outcome but also involves product binning. NVIDIA categorizes HBM products into two performance tiers: Bin 1 (high-end) and Bin 2. The challenge for SK Hynix is to demonstrate its technical prowess with the final samples to increase the proportion of its supply that qualifies for the high-end Bin 1 tier. With Samsung taking an early lead, SK Hynix's market position is under pressure. Over the past few years, SK Hynix, through its deep partnership with NVIDIA, has captured over 90% of the AI accelerator HBM market, solidifying its position as a core supplier to NVIDIA. However, as HBM4 moves into the commercialization phase, this landscape is facing challenges. Samsung's announcement in February that it had begun volume shipments of HBM4 to NVIDIA, emphasizing that it was achieved without redesign, is seen by the industry as a significant breakthrough in the HBM competition. In contrast, SK Hynix's certification process was delayed due to compatibility issues, putting its status as the primary HBM4 supplier to a substantive test. Citing industry observers, the article states that whether these final samples successfully pass certification will directly determine if SK Hynix can maintain its core position within NVIDIA's supply chain. If certification encounters obstacles, Samsung could potentially establish itself as the primary HBM4 supplier, leading to a reversal in the AI memory market landscape. Amid this critical technical push, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won is personally engaging to bolster the HBM4 sales effort. According to sources cited in the article, Chey will attend the NVIDIA GTC 2026 conference opening in Silicon Valley on March 16, where he is expected to meet again with NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and deliver a specialized report on SK Hynix's HBM technological capabilities. Last month, Chey and Huang shared a meal of "chicken and beer" in Silicon Valley, further strengthening the cooperative relationship. This upcoming GTC attendance is viewed as a high-level diplomatic move by SK Hynix at a critical juncture in the certification process, aimed at providing commercial relationship support to secure the mass production order. Separately, alongside the HBM4 effort, SK Hynix today announced the successful development of a 16GB LPDDR6 mobile chip based on its 10-nanometer sixth-generation (1c) process, which is the company's most advanced DRAM process node to date. According to SK Hynix, compared to the previous generation, the new product offers over a 33% increase in data processing speed and over a 20% improvement in power efficiency. The company plans to complete preparations for mass production in the first half of this year and begin shipments in the second half. The introduction of the 1c process LPDDR6 demonstrates SK Hynix's continued advancement in cutting-edge DRAM processes, providing new support for its competitiveness in the mobile memory market.
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