SK Hynix Begins Mass Production of 12-Layer HBM3E This Month

A representative from SK Hynix revealed that mass production of its 12-layer HBM3E memory will begin this month. The new version of the memory is expected to start shipping to the company’s customers by the end of 2024.

The information comes from Reuters, citing Justin Kim. The executive is head of SK Hynix’s AI infrastructure division. He reportedly confirmed during an event in Taiwan the company’s roadmap for manufacturing 12-layer HBM3E memories.

Currently, most memories of this type use stacks of up to 8 layers. This 50% increase allows the creation of 36GB modules, with greater energy efficiency in operations.

In July of this year, SK Hynix had already officially announced plans for its next versions of HBM memories. While the company intends to launch HBM4 in 2025 – like its competitors – the 12-layer HBM3E was already scheduled for Q4 of this year. Thus, the start of mass production in September confirms that the company is following its roadmap.

HBM3E in the race of the big three

There are currently three largest manufacturers of HBM memories in the world: SK Hynix, Samsung and Micron. Samsung was the first to talk about HBM3E with 12 layers, back in February of this year.

While SK Hynix is ​​preparing to begin mass production this month, Micron appears to be lagging behind its two competitors – but not by much. The company announced this week that it is in the process of qualifying its products with its customers.

More HBM:

There are many applications for HBM memory modules, but their development has been particularly driven by the AI ​​hype. This type of memory has been the preferred choice for manufacturing GPUs and technology accelerators, so the race has become fiercer.

Once again, Samsung may have a head start, with rumors that the company will ship its first HBM4 samples to customers in early 2025.