[News] AMD Secures Samsung HBM4 for MI455X; Deal May Tie Partial AI Chip Shift to Samsung Foundry

AMD has secured HBM4 supply from Samsung, but the deal reportedly includes a key condition that could benefit Samsung’s foundry business. Samsung is expected to supply HBM4 for AMD’s Instinct MI455X GPUs and DDR5 for its EPYC processors. According to Chosun Biz, while specific terms were not disclosed, Samsung may use HBM shipments as leverage to secure a partial shift of AMD’s advanced AI chip production to Samsung Foundry. The company’s press release also notes that the two sides will explore opportunities for a foundry partnership, under which Samsung would provide manufacturing services for next-generation AMD products.

AMD CEO Lisa Su personally met with Jun Young-hyun, Vice Chairman and Head of Samsung’s Device Solutions (DS) Division, at the Pyeongtaek campus to discuss securing HBM4 supply and broader areas of collaboration, the report notes.

This supply deal tied to foundry production could prompt AMD, a long-time TSMC customer, to deepen its engagement with Samsung Foundry. As the report notes, AMD has historically been one of TSMC’s most loyal clients, and as of early this year, the company disclosed that all advanced-node chips at 7nm and below are produced by TSMC.

The report also notes that while companies such as Qualcomm and NVIDIA have diversified production across both TSMC and Samsung, AMD has largely depended on TSMC. Some legacy-node chips have been manufactured with support from U.S.-based GlobalFoundries (GF), but meaningful collaboration with Samsung has been largely absent.

Samsung Leverages HBM Supply Tightness to Strengthen Bargaining Power

As the report points out, the arrangement underscores Samsung’s stronger leverage in negotiations with AMD. NVIDIA, the industry’s largest buyer, has already secured large-scale HBM orders, tightening overall supply and leaving AMD with fewer sourcing options. Meanwhile, companies such as Broadcom are also ramping up purchases of HBM and high-performance server DRAM to meet demand from U.S. tech giants.

AMD is reportedly moving urgently to secure HBM4 supply, which is expected to power its flagship MI400 AI chip this year. As the report notes, AMD needs both qualitative and quantitative growth in its AI semiconductor business as it works to catch up with NVIDIA while also facing rising competition from custom chip designers such as Broadcom. For AMD to expand its AI chip business, securing HBM4 is critical.

Notably, cooperation may expand further. According to Yonhap News, Su also met with Roh Tae-moon, CEO of Samsung Electronics and Head of the Device Experience (DX) Division, with the industry expecting broader collaboration across the AI mobile ecosystem, including PCs and tablets.

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(Photo credit: Samsung)