[News] Samsung Reportedly to Deliver HBM4 Samples to NVIDIA This Month, Eyes Early-2026 Validation

Shortly after announcing its “AI Megafactory” partnership with NVIDIA, where over 50,000 Team Green’s GPUs will drive chip production, Samsung is reportedly racing to clear NVIDIA’s HBM4 qualification. According to DealSite, the South Korean memory giant aims for final certification in early 2026 and has already shipped engineering samples.

In detail, sources told Asia Economy and DealSite that after completing internal reliability tests (PRA), Samsung plans to deliver customer samples this month for final verification, continuing performance tests with NVIDIA.

Based on the current timeline, volume shipments could begin in the second half of next year, DealSite suggests.

At last week’s announcement with NVIDIA, Samsung confirmed it will supply its latest memory—HBM3e, HBM4, GDDR7, and SOCAMM2—alongside foundry services for the AI Megafactory. In a rare move for the usually low-key company, Samsung also highlighted close talks to provide HBM4, which pairs a 4nm logic base with sixth-generation 10nm-class DRAM, reaching speeds over 11Gbps—well above JEDEC’s 8Gbps standard and customer expectations.

However, sources cited by DealSite caution that yield remains a key challenge for Samsung. The report notes that Samsung’s current 1c DRAM sample yields are over 70% for DDR5 and around 50% for HBM4. Since these numbers come from limited R&D wafer tests, HBM4 will need to hit at least 70% wafer yield before full-scale mass production, DealSite adds.

Speeds up 1c DRAM Expansion at Pyeongtaek

To speed up HBM4 production after major customer validation, Samsung has reportedly been aggressively expanding 1c DRAM capacity since early 2025. With equipment installation at Plant 2 in its Pyeongtaek campus now complete, the company is accelerating investment for Plants 3 and 4, DealSite reports. As the report highlights, P4, Samsung’s key hub for HBM4 production, is scheduled to begin operations next year.

To catch up, Samsung still needs to close the gap with SK hynix, which completed HBM4 development in September, began shipments in Q4, and plans to scale sales next year. Sources from Chosun Daily and ZDNet indicate NVIDIA is likely among its confirmed clients.

On the other hand, while Micron says it has delivered 12-layer BM4 samples to key customers, Maeil Business Newspaper reports the company is struggling to meet NVIDIA’s performance demands. A potential redesign could take up to nine months, threatening to delay mass production into next year, according to Maeli.

Read more

• [News] DRAM Quotes Reportedly Shift to Monthly as Samsung Largely Halts Contracts
• [News] Samsung in Talks to Supply HBM4 to NVIDIA for 50K-GPU AI Mega Fab; HBM3e/GDDR7/SOCAMM2 Also Included

(Photo credit: Samsung)