[News] HBM Demand from ASICs Reportedly to Surge 80% in 2026, Fueling Samsung–SK hynix–Micron Rivalry

While Goldman Sachs expects HBM prices to decline next year as competition intensifies and pricing power shifts to major customers, the firm also notes that although GPUs will remain the main growth engine, ASICs are set to see even faster adoption in 2026. Building on this, Chosun Biz notes that the once GPU-dominated HBM market is rapidly diversifying, paving the way for fierce competition among Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron.

As demand surges for custom-built AI chips, the ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) market is booming—and cloud giants like Amazon, Google, and Meta are emerging as major buyers in the HBM space.

As per Goldman Sachs, more AI ASICs are now switching from LPDDR and GDDR to HBM—with memory content per chip rising fast. Meanwhile, TrendForce reports that cloud service providers are ramping up ASIC development to cut dependence on NVIDIA and AMD—fueling broader HBM adoption.

Thus, Goldman Sachs forecasts that in 2026, HBM demand from GPUs will grow 23% year-over-year, while ASIC demand will soar 82%, making up 33% of the total market. Below is a quick summary of how memory giants are making strides in expanding their HBM products within the ASIC market.

Current Update on Samsung, SK hynix and Micron

Chosun Biz, citing industry sources, says ASICs make up just 10% of HBM shipments—but the market is rapidly diversifying beyond NVIDIA and AMD. For instance, SK hynix is reportedly supplying large HBM volumes to Amazon, Google, and Broadcom ASICs, while Samsung is delivering HBM3E to Broadcom and others, the report adds.

On the other hand, Micron, at its earnings call, revealed that it is now shipping high-volume HBM to four customers across both GPU and ASIC platforms.

According to Seoul Economic Daily, while Micron hasn’t officially named the other two customers, its ASIC clients are believed to include Broadcom, Marvell, and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

As Chosun Biz suggests, HBM market competition is set to intensify next year as HBM4—the sixth generation and the first fully customizable version—takes center stage. Unlike earlier versions, HBM4 lets chipmakers tweak the “logic die,” the brain of the stack, to meet specific customer needs, which makes it a perfect fit for advanced, custom-designed ASICs, the report notes.

Notably, according to the Korea Economic Daily, SK hynix’s first customized HBM—likely HBM4E—is set to debut in the second half of 2026. Meanwhile, Samsung is reportedly in advanced talks with Broadcom and AMD to supply custom HBM as well, likely based on HBM4 rather than HBM4E.

In terms of Micron, Tom’s Hardware previously reported that the U.S. memory giant is expected to start HBM4 mass production in 2026, with HBM4E following in later years. Notably, along with faster data transfer rates, Micron’s HBM4E will also offer customizable base dies, the report noted.

Read more

• [News] ASIC Boom by 2027? CSPs Aim to Leapfrog NVIDIA with Custom Chips — Key Moves & Partners
• [News] Micron Scales Up HBM to Four Major GPU/ASIC Clients; Targets 24% Market Share by Year-End

(Photo credit: SK hynix)